The Rookie
by onecrackerjack
Summary: Olivia has moved swiftly up the ranks, and is now a Captain. She runs a tight ship, and with her team, has transformed the 1-6 into one of the top precincts. But, when a new batch of Rookies is assigned to her crew, Olivia comes face to face with a blast from her past. Will this young officer be the key to reconnecting with her long lost partner, Elliot Stabler.
1. The Beginning

**_Please note the that story below was constructed for entertainment purposes. Cracker Jack makes no attempt to infringe on copyright or make a profit from the following story._**

The Rookie - By Cracker Jack

Summer 2017

Richard Stabler sucked in a deep breath and looked down at his immaculately shined dress shoes. Pinching his eyes closed for a brief moment, he willed himself to calm down. It wasn't working.

He straightened the gold cufflink on the left sleeve of his pressed shirt, before quickly pulling a piece of lint from his black dress pants with one white-gloved hand.

Why couldn't he stop fidgeting?

Jesus, why couldn't he calm down?

The excitement was just too much to bare.

Graduation Day. He had been working toward this for over 5 years.

Two years at Bronx Community College. Another two years at NYU, studying pre-law. Months of waiting; background checks; tests. Then, finally 6 months at the Academy in College Point, Queens.

Richard looked back toward the main stage. Soon it would be official. Soon he would be reciting the oath of office with his fellow cadets. Soon the NYPD honor band would march toward the main stage, and officially announce the successful completion of his training, and admittance into the ranks of the NYPD.

He was excited... and nervous. He was feeling everything, really.

For a brief moment he wondered if this was how is father felt when he graduated from the Academy all those years ago.

He glanced quickly over to the stadium seating on the right side of the auditorium. There just inside the aisle at the fourth row of the elevated section, sat Elliot Stabler. His father, sporting a short beard and his per usual closely cut, high-&-tight, wore a blue suit. This was the first time he had seen is father in this level of dress attire in over 5 years. It was a bit jarring.

Elliot had clearly placed himself to be seen by his son, while also making a pointed effort to position himself near his familyÖ but, he chose not to sit with them. It was the polite kind of gesture that Richard would expect from his father. His parents had been divorced since 2013. No doubt his mother would have felt a bit awkward making small talk with her ex at their son's graduation ceremony.

Kathy sat two rows ahead clearly unaware that Elliot had positioned himself a couple rows back. Maureen and her husband Mark were there, too. Kathleen was slouching over her phone just to left; her current boyfriend, Bryan-something or other, draping his arm behind her. Elizabeth was seated just to the other side of her mother, with her partner, Trish. A 9-year old Eli having been squarely placed between the two of them.

Eli, looking very uncomfortable, fidgeted with his tie. He was clearly unsatisfied with what his mother had made him wear to this auspicious occasion. Richard smiled, feeling a certain kinship with Eli in that moment.

His dress blues were itchy.

Looking back to his mother. Kathy, smiled softly. She then nodded toward the front of the auditorium as if to say to him, pay attention.

Richard quickly faced forward, ever the dutiful son.

* * *

When he had told his mother that he would be applying to the academy over a year ago. She had protested at first. She had said that he would end up just like his father. Alone. His mother had corrected herself immediately after that saying this. Apologizing...

 _"I'm sorry, Rich... I don't mean to speak poorly of your father. He's not a bad man. I just... you saw what that job did to him, to our family.?_

 _Richard stooped his head to look his mother in the eye. The last year of high school and first year college had been generous in terms of Richard reaching his full height, and he now stood at 6 ft 2 in. His mother stood squarely at 5 ft 5. When he caught his mother glance, he followed up softly. "I know. I'm not dad. Besides, I'm not doing this for him."_

 _He turned toward the living room where the sounds of his twin sister, Elizabeth, gently speaking to his 7-month old son could be heard. "I'm doing this for my family. For Benny, and Jess. It's a good job, with benefits. And, it will help me save some money for Law School. I'll be out of there by the time I'm 30, mom. I swear."_

 _"Uh huh." Kathy Stabler wiped her soapy hands on a dish towel just to the left of the sink. A resigned look taking hold of her features. "Famous last words, Rich. But you, ah, do what you need to do, okay. Whatever you want, I will support you."_

 _Richard rounded the kitchen counter and wrapped his arms around his mother. "Thanks. That means a lot."_

 _Ignoring her still damp hands she pressed her palms to his shoulders, and gave him a reassuring squeeze. "Regardless of how things ended between your father and I, he was an excellent cop." She chuckled before letting go. "Makes sense that you wouldn't be half bad at it, yourself."_

 _"Thanks, Mom... I think."_

* * *

"Atten Hut!"

As if moved by some invisible force. Richard rose to his feet. Months of conditioning told him to do so.

It was time! Everything from here on out was about two things for Richard. Providing for his wife and son, and saving for law school. Nothing was going to get in the way of that.

This was a bold choice, he knew. One with risks, but also with rewards.

Richard would learn from his father's mistakes. Being a cop was not going to be his life; it was going to serve his life... by putting him on a path to achieve his goal of becoming a lawyer.

He would not allow himself to fall in the same traps as his father. He was going to do better.

This was the start of something great!

"Raise your right hand, and repeat after me." A thickly accented Brooklyn Deputy Commissioner stated firmly from the corner of the main stage. "Ready, move!"

Over 800 cadets moved in sync, all raising their right hands at once.

"I do hereby pledge and declare...

... to uphold the constitution of the United States...

...and constitution of the state of New York...

... To faithfully discharge my duties as a police officer...

... in the New York City Police department..

... to the best of my ability, so help me God...

"Congratulations!"

In that moment, Richard looked back to the stands. His wife Jess rose from her seat, their toddler son perched on her hip. She waived enthusiastically.

Behind her, in the fourth row, Elliot Stabler stood tall, still looking a like the giant Richard believed him to be when he was a boy. His father clapped firmly; a broad smile stretched across his face.

* * *

Thanks for Reading. More to come.


	2. The Rabbi

_**Please note that the story below was constructed for entertainment purposes. Cracker Jack makes no attempt to infringe on copyright or profit from the following story.**_

The Rookie - By Cracker Jack

Chapter 2 - The Rabbi

 **July 1, 2017**

 **1-6 Precinct, SVU Bullpen, 11:23am**

"Yo, Sarge!" Carisi half shouted. "I think I got a hit on our guy."

Odafin Tutuola rose from his chair, a somewhat annoyed expression set across his face. "You sure about that, Carisi? This isn't like the last two, right."

"Nah, Fin. This is a good one." Sonny, smiled as he leaned in toward his computer, tapping his pen against the monitor. "This is a good hit. I finally found a viable address for our suspect."

Amanda looked over the edge of the file she was currently reading, eyebrows raised. "Carisi, if you get us sent on one more bogus lead, I'm going to staple your tie to your desk."

"Bag of zeppole says I'm right this time." Carisi smirked.

"Maaaan." Amanda drawled. "You are the only one that like's that stuff."

"Speak for yourself." Fin interjected, while looking over what Carisi had found. After a moment he nodded approvingly. A rare thing, indeed, when it came to the likes of the younger detective.

"Let's get Cap in on this. She'll want to know what's up." He said, turning toward the office just behind Carisi's desk.

Fin walked up to the door and rapped lightly on the window before turning the handle. "Captain. We might have something you'll want to see."

Olivia Benson looked up from her paperwork, bemused. "It feels weird when you call me captain."

Fin let out a quick bark of laughter. "It feels weird to call you captain, Liv. Even after 6 months."

Olivia set her papers to the side, before using the desk for leverage to rise out of her seat. Once upright she brushed a strand of hair away from her eyes before tucking it back behind her ear. "Whatta ya got." She asked, directing the conversation back to the task at hand.

"It's what Sonny's got." Fin offered. "Kid, thinks he's found our guy's address. A REAL address."

"Wow." Olivia breathed, "That's great. Our suspects been a bit of a ghost in that regard."

"We'll, when you are living on the street, I think that comes as part of the territory." Fin stated, matter of factly, "Dude's been floating around for so long, it would be hard to nail down any place that he crashes for more then a night."

"Show me what you have, and we'll go from there" Olivia said, rounding the desk.

* * *

 **Mel's Diner, 211 Union Ave, 1:45pm**

"So do you know your placement, yet?" Elliot asked.

"No, but I'm hoping for Brooklyn, that way if anything happens with Jess or Ben I can get there quickly." Richard said distractedly as he glanced over the menu. "I can never decide what to get when we come here, Dad. I think you do this on purpose."

Elliot laughed. Looking around the half-filled diner. The lunch rush had died down, so the place was pretty quiet. "This is a cop diner. You'll have to get used to this place, and more just like it. A million and one choices for the grunt walking the beat."

"Sure, dad."

Elliot continued. "I get it, wanting to be near your family, by the way. That's what I wanted when I first started on the job. Close in to family is ideal, Rich, but it is a rarity."

"Why's that?" Richard said, placing the menu on the table, intrigued.

"The department is going to place you where you are needed. And the most turnaround in the City has always been in Midtown. Ten to one, you go there."

"Why not put guys where they live. They know the area the best; know the people. Seems like it would be an advantage." Richard responded.

"It is. But it's all about boots on the ground. The most risk; the highest crime; the most turnaround… is all in Midtown. Always has been." Elliot offered by way of explanation. "Besides… Who knows… you did well in the Academy. They might place you with a high-impact precinct. Make sure to put your skill sets to good use. They give you a short list yet?"

Richard shifted in his seat before responding. "Not really… Though, some of the guys were talking during training and there are some coveted precincts…. The 77th in Brooklyn! That's what I'm hoping for. Then there is the 4-1 in the Bronx, the 34th in Manhattan, of course. Broadway wouldn't be so bad… And, uh… the 1-6.

Elliot flinched. Quickly attempting to cover his momentary lapse in composure, he looked toward the window. Though he attempted to show no emotion in that moment, Elliot's brow furrowed of its own accord.

Richard recognized the set of his father's features immediately. Without provocation, he was preparing to stonewall any attempts to take the conversation further.

When he was younger, his father always played his cards close to the vest. When it came to work, his Elliot rarely talked about it. The most involved Richard ever got in the business of his father's job had been when his friend, Shane, was murdered by a homeless man.

After his father left the job, the man's former work life became a no go subject all together.

"Dad, it's been like, 5 years."

"Yeah."

"It wasn't your fault."

Elliot tensed. "Can we talk about something else"

The waitress, a shorter blond woman no more than 18 years old, chose that moment to check in and take their order. "Ya'll know what you'll be havin?"

'Saved by the bell', Richard thought. He rambled off his order, quickly.

His father did the same.

"Thanks. I'll get those orders right out for ya." The waitress smiled kindly before walking away.

In a hushed tone, Richard continued. "What if I end up working for the 1-6? Can we talk about it then?"

His father pitched forward in his seat, making sure to keep his voice low. "Seriously, Dickie?"

"Don't call me Dickie." He leaned forward mirroring his father's position. Richard, in addition to being tall, had put on some weight in the last year and at present, was a leaner version of his father. As such, he had become just as imposing, so his father's go to tactic of physical intimidation during arguments no longer worked.

"Jesus." Elliot hissed, with the hushed rage of a man attempting not to make a scene. He leaned back in an attempt to de-escalate the conversation, dragging a calloused hand across the edge of his bearded chin.

Richard leaned back as well. "You're the one who made this weird, dad." He sighed. "I know you talk with your shrink… and I think that's great. But eventually, you got to talk about it with other people. Now that I am working for the department, this is going to be a point of conversation. Especially if I work at the 16th."

Elliot's demeanor changed suddenly, softening. "Would you really want to work at the 1-6?" He fumbled. "I mean, now that Don's retired, who knows who is in charge over there."

"You don't know who there CO is?" Richard asked. If this is how his father wanted to talk about the subject… Richard would take whatever he could get.

"No… I've been, ah… way out of the loop since Cragen left." Elliot reached out and touched the rim of his water class gently. "Do you know whose running things over there now?"

"No, only that the new Captain is a hard-ass. Sounds like the CO is probably a by the book sort of guy." Richard paused, unsure if he should ask his next question. He went for it, "...Do you think Olivia still works there?"

Richard had not see or talked with Olivia after the day she interrogated him about Shane.

He had been an asshole that day… he regretted few things from high school. But accusing his father's partner of having an adulterous affair…. Yeah, Asshole.

If she was there, still working as a detective, Richard wanted to apologize. An act he was sure would be part of the most awkward conversation ever, should he get the opportunity to work with her in some capacity.

"I hope not." Elliot responded, bringing Richard's attention back to the conversation at hand. "I mean, 2015 would have been her 20 year mark." Elliot looked out the window once more. "She's probably retired now. She always wanted to travel." He trailed off.

After a moment Elliot turned back, looking his son straight in the eye. "You have a good plan, Rich. Get in, get out. Take what you need a go. If you get placed at the 1-6… I'll be happy for you. In fact, I'll see if Fin is still there."

He leaned forward and clapped his son hard on the shoulder. "We'll see if we can get you a Rabbi." He said, boisterously.

* * *

 **July 5, 2017**

 **1-6 Precinct, SVU Bullpen, 2:33pm**

"It took 4 days of staking out that address, Carisi, but it worked." Olivia said with pride, as she shook the detectives hand. "Looks like we got our perp."

"Thank's, Cap" Carisi smiled broadly. "Can I go in and work him a bit? See if he'll confess?"

Olivia nodded. "Yeah, but take Amanda with you." She said, looking over to the blond detective who was already rising form her chair to heed her captain's orders.

"Will do." Amanda said, before turning to Carisi. "So… how much zeppole do I owe you.

As the two detectives walked toward Interrogation Room One, Amanda bounced shoulders with Sonny playfully.

Olivia smiled at the exchange.

It had taken a couple years for Rollins and Carisi to work decently with each other. Amanda was calculated, and had become more controlled since giving up gambling. Carisi was over eager about everything on top of being pretty green, so the match was difficult at first. They clashed horribly after Amaro left for California… but, eventually the two detectives found their rhythm.

"Liv. Can I bug you for a second?" Fin asked, pulling Olivia's attention back to the present. A file was situated in is left hand.

"Sure thing, Fin." Olivia agreed, gesturing toward her office. Once they had made there way inside and taken their respective seats, she gestured to the file, "Shoot."

"Now that some of your duties have passed to me… since, you know, you've gone all fancy on us… I am in charge of putting in the requests for new personnel. With the fiscal year having just turned over, I checked the status of our budget, and we actually have some wiggle room this year."

Fin opened the file and passed along a sheet of paper. "See, we can either hire 3 new detectives… or 1 new detective and 3 new uni's. What do you think?"

"Well, extra detectives on deck would be great, … but…. We've been short on some of our tac teams lately. We also could have used more uniforms to help with some of the larger searches we had in the spring." Olivia looked at the paper for a moment before passing it back to Fin. "One new detective and 3 new officers… but this time have them send the kids fresh out… let's train them in ourselves this time. The transfers form the 81st picked up some bad habits before coming to us. I'd prefer not to have to pass out rips like candy to people less then two weeks into their work with our house."

"Sure thing, Cap." Fin stood to exit. "Should be easily done since the Academy just graduated another class of cadets."

"Anything else you need, before I re-immerse myself in to my sea of paperwork." Olivia asked?

"Nah. I'll put in the requests with HR and 1PP asap."

"Thank's, Fin."

Thanks for reading


	3. Breaking the News

**Author's note: Sorry for the delay in updating. Work has been especially busy, plus I've been sitting on this chapter for a bit.**

 **Please note that the story below was constructed for entertainment purposes. Cracker Jack makes no attempt to infringe on copyright or profit from the following story.**

* * *

The Rookie - By Cracker Jack

Chapter 3 - Breaking the News

 **July 12, 2017**

 **Finnigan's Bar - College Point, Queens, 8:25pm**

"Mike! Over here!" Richard waved. He was situated in a booth in the back of the crowded bar, and proceeded to wave vigorously to gain his friends attention.

A taller than average, brown-haired fellow just passed the front entrance spotted Richard's seemingly frantic wave and nodded back nonchalantly before beginning the long push of navigating through the sea of bodies that were heavily populating the bar. The basic Irish pub was packed to the gills with recent graduates of the academy.

Today was placement day. All graduates who qualified were to find out today what precinct they would be working for; which beat they would walk. The energy in the bar was high, and the sounds of celebration were all around.

Finnigan's had become a sort of go-to spot for Richard and his classmates during his time in training. Richard enjoyed the little place, really. It had the true old New York feel to it, with a large oak bar breaking the room right near the entrance, old brown-leathered booths with brass finishing along the edge, and a jukebox that did not play anything made after 1985. It even had a stained-glass crest decreeing its status as 'Finnigan's Family Pub'.

"Finally! Took him forever to get here. Now we can order some food!"

Hearing the comment, Richard looked across the circle booth, toward his friend, Janie Ramirez. "Cut him some slack, Jay. His girl's been keeping him on a tight leash since graduation."

Jay, a short set woman with large hazel eyes and closely cropped black hair, scoffed. "That's what he gets. You heard what he did after graduation, right?"

Richard smirked. "Rumors, Jay. All rumors." He said, wagging his finger in mock reproach.

"Rich, you need to adjust your definition of the word rumor." Janie exclaimed. "If you see something happen with your eyes then it's not a rumor. It's a fact."

"I didn't see anything." He said with a sly smile. "I was minding my own business at the reception, like everyone else." Rich added, smirking once more before taking a pull from his Millar High Life.

"Yeah! Well, I saw what happened, and that shit was nasty." She said, with a wave of her hand at no one in particular. "Classical Jazz is not meant to be danced to in that way…. Nasty."

It was at that moment that Mike finally reached their table. "What's nasty?"

"Nothing." Richard said, shooting a glance toward Janie, as if to say 'shut up'. He then shifted sideways to let his friend sit down.

Mike eased in to the booth, and reaching with both hands, poured a pint from the pitcher that Janie had ordered for the table.

"Now that you're here, let's get some chicken wings!" Janie suggested.

"I don't know. I had dinner with Jess. I'm not really that hungry." Richard replied.

"I could eat." Mike said, resting his hand's on the table, and turning to face Janie. "But if we order some wings, you can't eat them all, Jay."

"Are you telling me what to do?" Janie asked, jokingly.

"All I'm saying is that last time we ordered wings you had like, 80 percent of them. I mean, where does it go, Jay." Mike laughed, gesturing to Janie. "You are like the smallest woman I know, and you eat more than Rich and I put together."

"Mike." Janie interjected, stone faced. "Never comment on what a woman eats or on her size. Even if you think it is a compliment, it's not." Janie said seriously, before the corner of her mouth turned up. "Really, though… I need some chicken wings. And tots!" She said, raising her hand to grab the waitresses attention.

* * *

"Janie."

"Don't say a word, Mike. I was hungry. I told you I was hungry."

"I had like, 2 wings, Jay!"

"This…" Janie said, gesturing over the now empty basket of wings and moving her hand in a circle motion, "is the hunger games arena, Mike. If you see something you want, you got to take it, or you are gonna be left behind for dead."

Janie, ever theatrical, then wiped the corners of her mouth with her middle and index fingers while looking into the reflection of her phone, before casting a glance back at Mike with an almost mischievous countenance.

"Jay!" Mike started, again.

"SO, big day today!" Richard cut in, trying to redirect the conversation. He did this to both address the reason they had decided to meet tonight, and to stop his two friends from arguing over chicken wings any further. There was some entertainment value to the whole thing, but Richard was not in the mood as more important topics were the true order of the day.

"…Yeah, I'm excited" Jay added, taking Richards cue, but not before tossing a playful glance to Mike. "Six months of training, and we get our placement letters today."

"Mike, you get your letter, too?" Richard asked.

"Yeah. Got the email at 5pm, from HR. Did you guys peek?"

Both Richard and Jay shook their head in the negative.

"We agreed that we would check our letters at the same time. That's how this 'pact' of yours works, Mike.…" Janie said, adding air quotes around the word pact. "Pacts are for 11 year olds, btw."

"So is saying,'btw', Jay." Mike took the opportunity to air quote Janie back, slowly drawing his long fingers up and down in the air-quoting motion.

Richard snorted.

Their antics were ridiculous.

On more than one occasion during their time at the academy, his friend's antagonization of one another got Richard in trouble. Most often, it was a well placed under-the-breath comment from Janie during a lecture that did it. Richard's ill timed laughing usually got him extra laps or push ups.

"What about you, Mike? Did you read your letter already?" Richard added, curious.

Mike lowered his hands from the mocking position they had been in moments earlier to the table …. As if bracing for something he turned is head slightly to the right and closed is eyes tightly, "…I, ah… already looked."

"Jesus, Mikey, are you serious?" Janie half shouted. All her playfulness gone now, she leaned across the table and punched Mike's shoulder. Hard.

"Ow!" Miked whined, rubbing the spot that Janie had just hit with her closed fits.

"What is the point of having some sort of Rookie friendship pact bull-shit, if you don't follow the rules and look at your placement before your friends? Huh!"

"I'm sorry, Jay."

Janie leaned back, and crossed her arms over her chest. "God-damn right your sorry. This phone has been burning a hole in my pocket for 3 hours waiting to look at my placement." She began before muttering in Spanish under her breath.

Richard leaned over and mock whispered. "She cussing you out right now, just in case you are curious."

"… yeah." Mike said flatly as he stared at Janie, who continued muttering to herself.

Leaning back and pulling out his phone, Richard added, "I have to agree, by the way. Jess was giving me the cold shoulder at dinner because I couldn't, or more aptly, wouldn't tell her if I was working in Brooklyn or not."

"Sorry, guys."

"… Well, since you cheated and peeked way before Rich and I you can at least tell us where you are going." Janie huffed.

Mike smiled, clearly happy with his placement. "I got Manhattan. The 16th.

"That's great!" Janie and Richard said in unison.

"Jay, what about you?" Richard asked.

Janie already had her phone open and was scrolling through emails. After a few seconds she looked up and with a curious quirk of her eyebrow, stated. "I got the 16th, too."

"You mean I have to work with you all day?" Mike laughed.

"Really!?" Richard, whom had chosen that moment to take a drink, choked on his beer. After clearing his throat, he half-coughed, "Seriously, you both got the 16th?"

"Geez, Rich. You okay." Mike asked, amused by his reaction. He reached out his hand and clapped Richard firmly on the left shoulder a couple of times.

Richard did not answer, instead grasping his phone firmly. He unlocked the screen. Opening his email he spotted the communication from HR at 1PP and hit review. He read silently.

… A full minute passed.

"Rich." Janie asked, curious. "You get the 77th like you wanted?"

Richard offered no response. Another minute passed.

"Ricardo!?" Janie said, playfully, leaning forward in anticipation. "Tell us what you got."

Richard looked up from his phone, eyes wide. He had read and reread the email 3 times. He couldn't really believe what it said. With an almost confused air he responded, "I got the 1-6."

"No shit." Janie burst out. "There were like, 800 Cadets in our class. What is the statistical possibility that we all end up at the same precinct?"

Richard opened his mouth and then shut it. He was at a loss.

"Um… ah…It could be because we were all in the top 5 percent of our class." Mike offered.

"I don't know, Jay." Richard said quietly, with a furrowed brow; both hands still gripping his phone.

"Well… I'm pretty happy about my placement" Mike offered. "The 1-6 has got a great rates right now. Plus, they are the base of operations for Manhattan Major Crimes, Warrants, Computer Crimes and Special Victims."

"I'm pretty pleased as well." Janie said casting a sideways glance at Richard. "I hear the 16th has a great Captain. Tough, but fair."

Another moment passed before Janie chimed in again, "Rich." She lowered her head attempting to catch his eye, "…you seem disappointed."

"I'm not… I'm just a little surprised. That's all. I knew it was a possibility, getting the 16th… But, I mean… There are 31,000 uniformed officers in New York City on any given day… It just seems weird that I would work there of all places."

"How so?" Mike asked.

"We'll for starters. That was my dad's precinct."

Jay's head jerked up. "Wait a minute. Your dad worked for the 1-6?"

"Yeah."

"Sounds like it was meant to be to me." Mike mused, clearly enjoying the serendipity of the situation. "Kinda like your destiny or something -."

"Rich, your dad seriously worked at the 1-6?" Janie interrupted, an excited look in her eyes.

"Yeah, Jay. That's what I said."

"In what unit?"

"… SVU."

"Richard… is your father Elliot Stabler?"

"… yes."

"Holy crap, dude." That caught Mike's attention. "THE Elliot Stabler."

Richard shook his head. This conversation was quickly going to a less than comfortable place.

Family dynasties are not unusual in law enforcement, especially in New York…. but once he entered the academy, Richard quickly learned just how influential his father, his father's partner, and Manhattan SVU were and continued to be. By one week into training Richard had read two papers on his father and his partner, and watched one interrogation video. After about 9 days he spoke with all his instructors and asked them not to make any reference to Elliot Stabler being his father. Richard wanted to go through the academy on his own merit, not ride the wave of his father's legacy. So he kept quiet about it. His instructors understood and heeded his request.

Richard had no idea until he decided to become an officer. And it was a strange thing to grapple with... His father was a training tool. Forever marked as elite, regardless of his exit. He was an NYPD legend.

If Richard were really being honest with himself about the whole thing, he learned more about his father's work while at the academy, then he did living with the man for 18 years.

Richard allowed his hands to brush the cool surface of the table; an attempt to reorient himself. "Yes, Elliot Stabler is my father."

Both of his friends stared at him, questions clear in their eyes.

"What was I supposed to say." Richard started, head down, humble. "Hi my name is Rich Stabler and my dad is a highly regarded NYPD detective. Can we be friends?"

Jay waived both hands in front of her face, excited. "I can't believe I never caught this before now. I mean, we talked about your dad and his partner… ah, what was her name…"

"Olivia Benson." Richard supplied, still looking down.

"Yeah! Benson!" Jay half shouted, excitement growing. "We talked about Benson and Stabler in Interrogation Tactics. Your father is a legend. He and his partner had one of the highest closure rates in NYPD History."

"It's not a big deal." Janie looked like she was about to interrupt him, so he continued, "I mean, yes my father and his partner were very good officers … exceptional investigators … and, um respected. But even still, the fact that Elliot Stabler is my father… is…. it's not a big deal." Richard said, trying to play it down a bit. He was getting uncomfortable.

"Benson and Stabler are elite." Jay scoffed. "He and Detective Benson were both awarded meritorious service medals."

"Twice." Mike added before taking a giant swig of his bear.

"They were just doing the job like anyone else. That's what they would say to you, if you asked." Richard said firmly.

Janie cut in. "Probably. But, all I'm saying, is that your dad and his partner… They are great cops… and whether you want to admit it or not, they are the kind of great cops that other great cops talk about. Man, we watched their interrogation films in class, Rich. They trained us using 4 of your dad's cases. I mean, a tag team interrogation was referred to by our training officer as the Stabler/Benson method."

Running a hand through his blond hair, Richard thought for a moment… "I just didn't want to make a big deal of it. Stabler is a pretty common Irish name so I thought no one would figure out the Elliot Stabler is my father… I'm not embarrassed or anything… just um, not interested in getting ahead on his name, I guess."

"I get that." Mike chirped. "My brothers are detectives in Queens. Comparisons to Chris and Shay in the old neighborhood, happen more often than I would like, to be honest."

"Sure." Janie said understandingly, though her gaze remained narrow as she looked toward Richard. "I'm not trying to make it a big deal, really. I'm just super impressed, is all."

An awkward silence fell over the table.

"Um… My dad still knows a guy at the 1-6. Said he could make some calls, you know, so that we have a bit of an in. He joked about getting us a Rabbi."

Janie and Mike perked up at that.

"I'm down for that." Mike quipped, resting his hand on his cheek while letting a lazy smile stretch across his face.

"Nice." Janie exclaimed. "I want to move up eventually, go for detective in warrants or something. It would be sweet for someone to show us the ropes."

"Well, Fin may be our guy, then." Richard said. "I'll give my dad a call tomorrow. See if he can talk to Fin before we start next week."

* * *

"Hey, Dad."

"Hey, is everything okay."

"Um, yeah. Why?"

Elliot scrubbed a hand over his beard and looked to the clock on his bedside table. "You're calling me at 11 o clock at night… You sure everything is okay?"

"It is…" Richard paused. "I got my placement today."

"Are you in Brooklyn." His father asked, a rare tinge of excitement coating his voice.

"No, I didn't get the 77th…"

"Richard-"

"…I got the 16th in Manhattan."

There was silence on the line for a full minute before Elliot opted to speak again. "We'll, at least God has got a sense of humor."

"... Since it worked out like this, can you do me a favor and call Fin. Let him know we're coming. Janie and Mike got the 1-6, too." Richard sighed.

"Yeah, I can do that, son… When do you start?

"Next Monday."

"…Manhattan is a good beat. I know you'll do well there."

"Thanks, dad."

"Richard."

"Yeah." His son huffed, quietly.

"I'm proud of you."

* * *

Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you think might happen next. I'm intrigued to hear from you.


	4. A Hard Call to Make

**Author's note: I've been working on the next couple of chapters collectively, hence the delay. Plus work, life, etc, is busy.**

 **Please note that the story below was constructed for entertainment purposes. Cracker Jack makes no attempt to infringe on copyright or make a profit from the following story.**

* * *

The Rookie - By Cracker Jack

Chapter 4 - A Hard Call to Make

 **July 16, 2017**

 **Elliot Stabler's Apt., 7:55pm.**

Elliot had put it off long enough.

His son had called him 5 days ago and told him to make the call to Fin; had told him that he was being assigned to the 16th Precinct.

Richard would be working his old stomping grounds. Working his house, with people _HE_ used to work with. The people _HE_ had called his peers.

Elliot would be lying to himself to deny that the whole things wasn't a bit triggering… a bit surreal. The thought of being that close to his former place of work, even with one degree of separation was a difficult thing to grasp, let alone accept as immediately has he needed to.

He still thought about the old precinct sometimes... But images of the young woman he shot, Jenna, lying dead on the floor, typically followed… so he tried not to think about his former job too much if he could help it.

Once in a while though, he would let his mind wander to his former co-workers… his _former_ friends.

He thought about how Munch liked to make coffee that bordered on a paste of grounds. How the old man was an authority on some of the most obscure topics imaginable.

He thought about how Fin often hummed under his breadth after coming in from his break. A time when he chose to call his son, Ken. He also thought about how Fin had a mirror in his desk drawer. Just a small hand mirror. Fin had once told Ellio that he had to 'Check the money-maker once in a while... to make sure it was still earnin'. Fin was a strong guy.

Elliot thought about Olivia. A lot. He thought about how her brow would crease right between her eyes when she was deep in thought or reviewing complex components of a file. He thought about how she used to clean up his side of the desk on days when she worked and he didn't. He thought about how Olivia hated being cold during stakeouts, and loved jasmine tea.

Elliot thought about the times when he and Olivia fought or argued; how she would never back down from his blustering. She usually called his bluff and started pushing right back… he hated it at the time, but god he missed it now.

Olivia challenged him.

Olivia pushed him to be better.

…And he had left her without a word…

He was a bastard.

Elliot had no sense of delusion there.

He had done her wrong, and he new it. He was not the friend he promised Olivia he would be, and he was not the partner she deserved.

She probably hated him.

God, how was he going to do this.

Elliot had told his son he knew people at the 1-6, but he really only spoke to Don anymore. He and his former boss had lunch once a month at Mel's Diner. They started meeting late in 2013 regularly, shortly after Elliot's divorce. They mostly talked about Elliot's kids, politics; anything but work.

Cragen had a strict no shop-talk policy. Having only broken his silence about SVU twice, when Olivia was taken by Lewis, and when Elliot asked about the trial and if Olivia was holding up. Cragen had suggested that Elliot ask her himself…. but they both knew he wouldn't.

He knew Fin was still at the 1-6 because Cragen had let it slip that Fin was looking in to taking the Sergeants exam a while back. This fact had amused Don greatly for some reason. As for Munch, Olivia, Melinda, Huang… he had no idea what they were doing or where they were.

Elliot had not spoken with Fin since shortly after he left SVU. And, to call the exchange a conversation was probably inaccurate. A battle of wills was a more apt description. The man had charged onto his porch, demanding to speak with Elliot at 10:30 at night.

At the time Elliot had been 'retired' for about 2 months.

* * *

 _"_ _Stabler, open up!" A harsh pounding shook the door in its frame._

 _Kathy's head poked around from the threshold to the kitchen. "Elliot, get the door and talk to Fin. He's going to wake Eli if he hasn't already."_

 _Elliot made no effort to move or respond. He was sitting on the couch, a glass in one hand, and the remote control in the other._

 _Fin pounded on the door in hard succession three more times._

 _"_ _Please Elliot!" Kathy hissed, stepping out of the kitchen fully now._

 _A faint "_ _Mommyyyyy?" sounded from upstairs._

 _Kathy's head pitched to the staircase, where the sound of her son, Eli, shouting for her could be heard._

 _Utterly pissed, Kathy stomped around the couch, and crouching down so she was looking squarely at Elliot, pointed a finger in his face. "I swear to god, Elliot if you do not get the door, I will pack up the kids and go to a hotel. Tonight."_

 _Elliot flinched. Not from the threat, but from the general proximity if his wife. He had been sleeping in the guest bedroom since the shooting, He and Kathy had not been this close since the first week he had stopped working._

 _"_ _Get the door, Elliot." Kathy hissed a final time. Without another word, she moved to the staircase and ascended the steps quietly, her back tense, and her demeanor switching from anger to a sort of cold agitation in the span of time it took to walk the length of the living room._

 _Elliot placed his half empty glass of scotch on the coffee table and rose from his seat. With four long strides to the threshold of the house, he grasped the handle and pulled the door open. Fin was on the other side, of course, with a hand raised to knock, for what Elliot thought likely to be the 5th time._

 _"_ _What do you want?" Elliot spat._

 _"_ _You have a lot of nerve, Elliot." Fin responded in kind. "You leave without a word, and you don't even tell us what's going on. You don't even call her."_

 _Elliot was not in the mood._

 _"_ _Is this seriously the reason you're here." Elliot replied with heat. "You and Don are on my case about Olivia. I don't owe her anything! If I want to leave my fucking job. I can do that whenever I want. If I want to be left alone, and not talk with anyone with right now… I can do that too."_

 _Fin, never one to be afraid of Elliot, moved quickly, grabbing the collar of Elliot's worn t-shirt and pulled him past the threshold of the door. He positioned himself so that his face was perhaps 5 inches from a drunken Elliot's face._

 _As much as Elliot's instinct told him to fight back, he did not fight back. He knew that he was 3 sheets to the wind and did not want to have a completely sober and comparable in strength Fin, beat the ever-loving shit out of him in front of his own house._

 _In a hushed tone, Fin spoke his next words slowly, carefully. "You may be able to do what you want, and yeah Stabler, you can leave your job, and cut yourself off from everyone. That is YOUR fucking choice. But never, ever say you don't owe that woman. You and I both know that you own Olivia a whole goddamn lot."_

 _Fin lightened his grip on Elliot's shirt, releasing him, and moved backwards to exit down the porch steps._

 _"_ _If you can handle it, call her and tell her you're okay. That's all she really wants to know." Fin pulled out his car keys and stepped down to the grassy walkway in front of the Stabler house. "I hope you get your shit together, Man. Call if or when you do."_

* * *

It had been 5 years since that night on his porch.

Elliot was not sure if Fin even would accept his call.

Elliot paced his apartment, which was not difficult considering the place was small; only a two bedroom with an open concept living area. Traversing his office/kitchen/living room was a 10 step journey.

Walking to the kitchen counter he picked up his phone pressing the wake button. The screen lit up with a subdued blue splendor, showing clearly the time and day. 8:03pm, Sunday the 16th.

If he waited, it would be too late to call.

He promised his son.

With a deep breath and a squaring of his shoulders, Elliot dialed.

* * *

 **Odafin Tutola's Apt., 8:05pm**

Fin gripped the controller tightly, his fingers moving quickly. On the screen, a futuristic mercenary man clad in silver and black tactical gear shot the head off a quickly moving zombie.

"Yeah, you zombie asshole! Die." Fin exclaimed. Eyes wide in appreciation of his own handiwork.

"Now, what have I told you about shouting profanity at the screen." Said a chastising voice.

Fin glanced quickly to the right of the couch. Amanda sat there in the corner, her face screwed up in what Fin thought to be frustration. She was frantically pushing buttons on her controller. One might say, nonsensically pressing all the buttons.

Directing his attention back to the game, he pressed several buttons in quick succession; x, b, y, c, x.

An explosion erupted; Zombie arms and legs landing in a haphazard array across the the 40-in wide screen in all its bloody, High-Definition glory.

"What the Hell, Fin. You blew me up!" Rollins said, pitching her controller to the side.

"Killing zombies is a dangerous thing. Sometimes you have to fight dirty. Get nasty." Fin smirked before pressing pause. "You're getting good, Amanda. You're starting to keep up. A month ago you would have lived because you would have been half a click behind."

"Yeah, well…. Beats bettin' on stuff. I'm not sure if this gaming thing is an effective tool to keep my hands clean," She said, smirking, "But at least I'm not down at the OTB dropping a grand on Sunday Night Football, you know."

"Like I said…" Fin nodded, knowingly. "Good Job."

Amanda raised from the coach, "I'm gonna get another beer, you want one?"

"Nah… well, maybe a water." Fin responded.

"Sure, thing." Amanda confirmed before turning and walking to Fin's kitchen. "By the way, I hear vibrating, can you check and see if it's your phone or mine?"

Fin, who had not noticed the sound until that point, turned back to his original seated position and looked down at the coffee table. His phone was receiving a call, the buzzer making the phone vibrate quietly across the leather of the coaster he had placed it on. "It's mine." He shouted.

Picking his phone up he noted the number was one he did not recognize. Before answering he offered up a quick moment of assurance to Amanda, "Not Olivia, so no scene tonight," before accepting the call, and raising the phone to his ear. "Tutola."

"Fin."

"…. Elliot?" Fin, responded. His tone one of surprise. "…Elliot Stabler?"

Hearing the pairing of Fin's confused and surprised voice as well as the name of Olivia's former partner, Amanda popped her head out from behind the refrigerator door.

"Yeah." A gruff voice said on the other line.

Fin was dumbstruck for a moment. He was not sure what to say. He had not heard from this man in 5 years.

Hearing from Elliot now... It was like getting a call from a ghost.

There was a pause on the line… "How are you?" Elliot asked, hesitant.

"... I'm good." Fin was having difficulty reconciling why he would be hearing from Elliot after all these years.

"Is it alright that I'm calling?"

Fin's ire had died down years ago. He had said his peace to Elliot, and while he thought the man to be a bit of a coward, he was not going to reject him outright, not after all this time... He was still maybe just a little pissed, though. "Yeah, it's fine. But, I'm not gonna lie, man. Hearing from you is not really a high priority for me, you know."

"I'm sorry."

"You know that you don't need to apologize to _ME_ , right." Fin bristled.

"Yeah, I… your right." Elliot said, softly. "Jeez…Sorry."

"Why'd you call, man." Fin asked, his curiousity taking over.

By now Amanda, had made her way back into the living room. She gingerly set the water glass on a coaster near Fin before palming her beer and sitting at the opposite end of the couch.

"I need a favor." Elliot stated.

Silence.

"Richard, my son, you know Dickie… He um, graduated from the academy a couple weeks back and uh… he's been assigned to the 1-6 along with some classmates of his."

"No Shit! Really?" Fin exclaimed. That had not been what he had been expecting to hear. "Wow! I had no idea when I put in for new personnel that your son would be assigned." Fin leaned forward in his seat. "… but, what does that have to do with me."

"You put in for personnel? Isn't that something that is usually done by-"

"I'm a Sergeant now." Fin explained. He was not interested in getting into the finer points of his promotion, so he just left it at that.

"Congratulations Fin." Elliot said sincerely, before moving on to address Fin's question. "I wanted to ask you, since my son is starting his patrol tomorrow, if you might keep an eye out for him, you know. Make sure his training officer is a good guy. Um, help him stay out of trouble. He's pretty level headed. He takes responsibility seriously… but you know how it is in your first weeks. Slip-ups happen, young kids get scared or overwhelmed… I think he will do a great job… he is you know, a kid though... So, I got to keep an eye out for him."

Fin hesitated for a beat before pinching the bridge of his nose; he nodded as if Elliot could see him. "I don't know how much I can watch him. But… I'll check in… make sure he's cool."

Elliot let our a breath he did not know he was holding. "That's great, Fin. That's really great… and ah it really mean's a lot to me that you are willing to check up on him. Especially, consider-"

"Elliot, don't worry. I got this. I'll help." Fin chided.

"… Thanks."

"This your new number?"

"Yeah"

"I'll call you on Monday and let you know how day one went."

"Thank you."

With that, Elliot hung up the phone.

"Just ask, Amanda." Fin said as he placed the phone in front of him on the coffee table, and reached for the water that Amanda had brought him moments earlier.

"So, what just happened there, on the phone?"

"Elliot Stabler, Olivia's ex partner, has a son. Richard. He is one the 3 rookies coming in tomorrow. He was assigned to the 1-6."

"So… what, what does Elliot want?" Amanda was deeply curious about the whole affair.

"He wants me to keep an eye on his kid. You know, just maker sure he's not getting in to trouble or pissing someone off."

"Wait, is he asking you to be his boy's rabbi?" Amanda's eyes widened.

"Yep." Fin huffed. Shaking his head he took a drink of water. He made a face. "You know what," He said, reaching toward Amanda, "Give me that beer."

Amanda passed him the beer without argument. "…. you gonna give Olivia a heads up about this, Fin?" Amanda asked. She didn't know too much about Olivia's previous partner. Only that he left in a hurry after an incident, and that he could have a pretty quick temper.

Olivia would talk about him very rarely… but Amanda, being the good detective that she was, could pick up on a clear history of friendship balanced with contention in the senior officer's antidotes about her former partner, Elliot Stabler. She also knew that when she started at the precinct, Fin and Munch had been walking on eggshells around Olivia... and that this ex partner of hers had not spoken with her boss in years.

Fin looked at Amanda knowingly. "Well, yeah. No way I am leaving her to be surprised by something like this."

* * *

 **Olivia Benson's Apt., 8:50pm**

Olivia lifted a very asleep, yet very large 3 and a half year old Noah from her couch. Once situating him in a position that felt stable she started to tip toe between the trucks, blocks, and board books that littered her carpet.

Noah let out a very soft hum, deep into a state of sleep.

He was definitely tired after their playdate at the park. Olivia had been pleased with the amount of running around her son had done. Burning all the energy at the park meant a quiet evening at home reading and playing on the floor. Noah was predictable in that way.

After weaving through the sea of toys on the on the floor she made it to the young boys bedroom. Shifting him in her arms she maneuvered him gently into his toddler bed.

A new addition to his room, the small, low to the ground bed had been the first thing she had picked out with Noah for his room that wasn't a toy. At the store he had shouted a garbled version of the words 'rocket ship', so she knew that was his choice the moment he set eyes on it. The little grey and red bed had small dancing rockets painted along the headboard, and a toy control panel at the foot. He loved it.

Bending down she covered him with the small black and yellow star comforter, and kissed him softly on his forehead.

"Night, my love." She breathed.

Moving quietly back in to the living room Olivia started picking up toys off the floor. No need to trip over her son's stuff before trying to get to bed herself. She was maybe 10 minutes into her cleaning session when she heard her phone ring. Moving to the end table she had placed her phone on earlier in the evening she picked it up and looked at the screen.

Without preamble, she answered, "Hey Fin, what's up?"

* * *

Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please let me know what you think, if you are so inclined.


	5. Orientation

**Author's Note: So hopefully this is less of a delay than previous chapters. I had this on the back burner but wanted to add a bit more before posting.**

 **Please note that the story below was constructed for entertainment purposes. Cracker Jack makes no attempt to infringe on copyright or make a profit from the following story.**

* * *

 **The Rookie - By Cracker Jack**

 **July 17th, 2017, 4:02am**

 **Richard and Jessica Stabler's House**

Richard had been lying in bed for about 10 minutes listening to the sound of his wife's soft breathing as she slept. Jess was exceptionally exhausted from staying up late with their son the night before. She had collapsed heavily onto the bed, sleeping hard, with one arm thrown across Richard's chest the whole night. Even though that had limited Richard's own ability to reposition during his slumber, the weight of her presence there, across his heart, was something that he reveled in. He loved waking up before her so that he could just... be with her, present in that moment. He could stay like this, with her, forever.

And usually, he would allow himself the indulgence of laying with her while she slept for as long as he possibly could.

But at 3:53 am Richard's eyes had shot open. Anticipation about the importance of this day tingling through him; moving quickly. Richard could feel it in his hands, the need to occupy himself before the energy of the whole thing was too much to bare.

Wincing from the loss of his wife touch as he began to maneuver quietly, delicately lifted Jess's arm up so that he could shift to a sitting position. Richard moved slowly, taking great precautions not to jostle her.

"Rich, are you awake?" Said a muffled voice behind him. "Ya-Your orientation starts at 7am… what are you doing up so early?"

Obviously he had not moved quietly enough. His wife was clearly awakened by the movement. With legs hanging off the mattress, he turned his upper body and leaned toward Jess. Whispering in her ear he replied, "I'm a bit keyed up… I was thinking about going for a run before I get ready."

In a voice still heavy with sleep, his wife responded, "I have ways to make you less nervous, no running required, if you're interested." The suggestiveness of her statement belied her clear exhaustion. Her eyes weren't even open as she propositioned him, but a soft smile was turning up the corner of her mouth.

He smiled. "I think an offer like that sounds great, baby. But then I wont wanna go to work… plus, you were up with Ben half the night." Richard reasoned.

Jess rolled over to look at her husband, her hair blocking her half-lidded eyes. "He _was_ fussy," she agreed.

Richard reached toward her, brushing the brown locks of his wife's hair from her forehead gently before leaning forward and placing a kiss there. "Rest, Jess. I'll be back in about 45 minutes."

"…Kay. Love you." Jess yawned, before rolling back over.

* * *

 **16th Precinct, 6:20am**

Richard arrived to the 16th precinct well before his 7am orientation was to begin. Dressed in civilian clothes with a duffle bag hanging from his left shoulder, he approached the Duty Officer at the desk. Flashing his ID and badge he introduced himself, "Richard Stabler, reporting for Orientation".

"Welcome, Officer Stabler." The man spoke in a clipped tone. "You'll need to sign in here." He gestured to the key pad. "Just enter your badge number and then press enter."

Richard did as he was told, entering his information on the key pad. The last time he had been here, his father had signed in using an old fashion clip board, pen, and paper. Wow, some things had changed around this place.

"Now, as part of your Orientation you will get a tour of the precinct. But prior to that you will be meeting in room 2B on the first floor. It's a smaller conference room right next to the Officer's break room." Reaching down and opening a drawer, the man pulled out an envelope."Your locker number, combination, and card are in here" He gestured to the envelope.

"Locker room?"

The Officer smiled in understanding. "Down that hallway, then to your left. It's the blue doors, you can't miss it."

Richard nodded, "Thank you, sir."

* * *

Olivia sat in her office. She had been at work for about 30 minutes. Leaving Noah so early in the morning was always difficult. But, upon becoming Captain she had quickly realized that being in the office as early as possible allowed her to get a lot of the administrative minutia out of the way before the the work day hit full force. Things started to get a bit hectic around 9:30am, and with meetings, trainings, the endless consultations, permissions, and investigative insight she was being tasked to provide, she often had to stay until 6pm on "light days" just to get everything done.

Thankfully, Lucy, her nanny, was a god-send and brought Noah in 3 times a week during lunch so that Olivia could see her son more than just in the evenings. On Fridays she left early if she could help it, and on the weekends she worked from home.

Beyond her usual need to be efficient on a day like today, she had also opted to come in early to gather her thoughts. Today was going to be a bit… interesting, to say the least . The call from Fin last night had thrown Olivia for a bit of a loop, and she had spent the better part of the evening thinking about how to handle this turn of events.

Having Richard Stabler, Elliot's son, in her charge was not something that she had anticipated when telling Fin to put in the request for additional officers. Then again, the Stabler clan was a law enforcement legacy. She had assumed that one of his children would go into law enforcement. But… wow, Dickie…

This whole thing was bringing up some… feelings of confusion, not to mention some questions for Olivia.

The last time she had spoken to the young man he had been a teenager. On that particular day he had been antagonistic and accusatory, implying that she had engaged in an extra-marital affair with his father. On that day she had also seen him be exceptionally violent, and loose his temper not once, not twice, but three times in the span of 4 hours.

Olivia had been _so_ embarrassed.

Having the young man she had known since he was 4 years old accuse her of sleeping with his father made her feel, well, worthless. She had always attempted to respect and support Elliot's family, and so the accusation was a low blow. It made apparent for Olivia the role she played in Elliot's life at the time, at least, according to his family.

All these years later, this incident coupled with Elliot's radio silence since the shooting confirmed for Olivia the following… Elliot Stabler, was not who she thought he was, and the respect and relationships she had attempted to forge with Elliot's family as part of their friendship, or partnership, or whatever the hell it was… had been for not. Clearly, if Elliot's son saw Olivia as a divisive whore, her standing with the rest of the family was likely to not be very high…. Well, save for Kathleen. Kathleen had warmed up to her shortly before Elliot left the job… but since then, nothing. Dead air.

The worst part was that when Richard had slung such an accusation at Olivia during his questioning… while she could confidently and authoritatively affirm without a doubt that her relationship with the boy's father was completely on the up and up... something deep within her felt a sort of regret. It was painful.

Yeah, she had never cheated with Elliot… physically.

Regardless of all the circumstances, and the feelings that this was bringing up for Olivia, she had to make a choice of how to act next; now that she knew Richard would be working at her house.

Richard was now her employee. He was an officer with her precinct, and she needed to make sure that he was the right fit and that he succeeded in doing his job.

But she had concerns...

… If this young man had the same behavior she had seen years earlier, how could he work under her command?

… If he was even remotely like his father, rebellious and stubborn, was she going to end of being disrespected a second time in her place of work?

There were a lot of unknowns. And unknowns presented risks.

She hoped that Richard was the young man she had known before his friend went missing. The Richard that she had known was curious, creative-minded, and a mean poker player. The Richard that she had known, looked up to his father like the man was a god. The Richard that she had known was a good kid... hopefully he had grown up to be a good man.

Olivia knew one thing, though… Richard would receive no special treatment from her, and no accommodations just because he was her ex-partner's son.

* * *

 **Room 2B, 16th Precinct,** **6:58am**

"Damn, I'm so excited." Janie said in a hushed tone as she sat next to Richard. "You excited, Rich?"

"Yeah…" Richard pulled at the collar of his uniform. It felt a bit over-starched or something. It's probably because it was new. He adjusted his peaked cap, which currently sat in his lap.

After finding the locker room, changing into his uniform, and taping a picture of his wife and child to the inside of his locker, he made his way to the conference room where the orientation was to begin. Surprisingly, both Janie and Mike had beaten him there. He was usually the first person to arrive anywhere… years of having a father intent on being on time or early for everything had ingrained the behavior in Richard. When he had entered the room, Janie had been scarfing down one of the complimentary bear claws and pounding what Richard assessed to be her second cup of coffee based the number of open sugar packets around her.

Mike was, well, siting very still in the chair, clearly trying to fight off sleep. Somewhat unsuccessfully, Richard thought, from the constant dipping motion of his head every 5 seconds.

From the looks of things his friends were just as nervous and affected as he was.

"Me too!" Mike, said with a yawn. "I'm…" another yawn. "pumped."

"Yeah… you look it, Mikey." Janie chuckled, before standing to pitch the remnants of her breakfast in a nearby trashcan.

Richard pulled out his personal phone and looked at the time. 7am. They should be starting soon.

As if on cue the door to the conference room opened and a tall, middle-aged uniformed officer entered. The officer had salt-and-pepper hair, and was cleanly shaven, save for the light, greying goatee at his chin. "Morning. My name is Dennis Santorini and I will be leading your orientation today. You will refer to me as Officer Santorini. For the sake of formality, we are going to take roll. Officer Janie Ramirez…"

"Present." Janie stated, raising her hand.

"Officer Richard Stabler…"

"Reporting, Sir."

"Officer Mike Keating…"

"… Um… Present." Mike yawned again.

Officer Santorini looked at Mike for a long moment before a quirk of a smile passed his lips. "Wakey, Wakey, Keating!" Santorini said firmly, slapping the conference table with the palm of his hand.

Mike jerked up, his cap shifting sideways on his head "Yes sir!"

Santorini chuckled to himself, clearly pleased with how that had turned out.

After another moment he directed his attention back to the group "Ok, kids. This is how it's gonna go for the next two hours. We are gonna go over the house rules. The 1-6 is a top rated house. We have a great crew here. We work hard, we do our jobs, we keep this place elite. You have trouble with that people around here are gonna let you know. You understand?"

Without pausing to affirm if in fact the young officers understood, Santorini continued. "Next we'll introduce you to your Training Officers. You will be working with these officers for a year. You defer to them, take the guidance they give you… you should do just fine… finally, we tour the Precinct. This house is 7 stories high, and different Squads occupy different floors. Alright-y… lets get started."

* * *

 **16th Precinct, North Elevator, 8:57 am**

"This place is huge."

"What was that?" Santorini shot back as he led the group.

"I was just saying, sir, that this precinct is quite large." Mike said from his position next to Richard in the elevator. "Is it normal for each squad in a precinct to have its own lock up area?"

Santorini nodded at the questions. "Depends on the size, kid. Since we are in Manhattan, we see a lot of perps day in and day out. This is high traffic area, ya know. So each of the specialized squads, like Major Case, and Special Victims, they have their own lock up. The big cells, those are down stairs in holding."

"So where are we headed next." Janie asked. Shooting another excited glance at Richard. Janie was like a kid in a candy store. She was practically glowing with excitement.

Richard on the other hand, while excited, was more reserved. He had, in fact, been to the precinct on several occasions. He knew exactly where they were headed next.

"We are headed to the top floor. SVU and all the administrative offices are located on seven." Santorini supplied, gruffly, not endeared by Janie's clear enthusiasm.

After a few short moments the elevator opened to the 7th floor.

Richard, took in the familiar setting. The collection of desks turned toward one another, so that partners could speak and share work. The two interrogation rooms to the right of the Captain's office, and the meeting room for children and families just to the left. The file cabinets just to the right of the squad lockers… his father had pushed him against those when he had mouthed off… the last time he was here.

"You comin, kid." Santorini asked, breaking Richard from his revere.

He was the only one standing in the elevator now.

"Oh… ah… sorry." He said, stepping out of the elevator quickly.

Ignoring his statement, Santorini continued with his tour. "This is Manhattan SVU. As you know the Special Victims Unit deals with cases of, shall we say, a delicate nature. The Detectives working in this unit work cases involving sexual assault, domestic abuse, or crimes against children or the elderly."

As the group walked a short distance and into the main area of the squad room Richard took in his surroundings in more detail. He didn't see anybody he knew at first. He looked to where his father's desk used to be located. Sitting where his father once sat was a blond woman with soft features. She was quietly reading a file. Directly across from her was a taller male detective, also blond. He was staring at his computer screen with a level of intensity that rivaled Eli watching TV. The man was maybe 7 inches from the screen.

The desks just parallel, where also occupied.

To one side a tall woman with red hair stood, unpacking possessions from a bankers box and placing them atop her desk. She pulled two framed photos from the box and set them to the side before placing it on the floor.

'She's clearly new.' Richard thought to himself before directing his gaze across the desk. Directly across from the red-headed detective was someone Richard finally recognized, Odafin Tutola.

Fin was on the phone. He was speaking quietly to the person on the other line, a professional tone to his voice. From what Richard could tell, it sounded like a person was reporting information to him. Fin was quietly repeating whatever he was being told while writing something down in a note pad. After another second, he hung up the phone with a flourish. "Got an ID on that car and the partial license place. Tech's been running through the system for the last hour, says that they got a full plate on a traffic cam from 9th and Lex."

The blond woman looked up from her file. "Nice. Want me and Carisi to check the DMV database to match the owner to the plate?"

"Yeah." Fin then looked across his shared desk, "Kearny, can you call downstairs to see if we can get an APB put out on the plate and model." He said handing the note pad to the woman across from him.

"Sure thing, Seargent." The red-head replied to Fin before reaching for her phone at the edge of the desk.

"Hey Sarg." Santorini called from their place toward the entrance. "Do you mind if I bring the Rookies in to show them your digs?"

Fin, whom had not noticed the group until just then, rose from his seat, and with a few strides to the center of the room, replied. "Sure. First things first, who we got here."

"These are Officers' Keating, Ramirez, and Stabler."

Fin's eyes shot to Richard's. "Wow, I didn't recognize you, kid. You've grown like two feet," he said reaching out to shake the young man's hand. "Your father called me last night, told me you got placed here."

"You know this one." Santorini asked, curious.

"You kidding me, Dennis? This is Elliot Stabler's son."

"No shit!" Santorini turned to Richard. "I thought you looked familiar," he said with a laugh before clapping the man on the back, causing Richard to cough a bit in surprise. "Me and your dad, we go way back!"

Gaining his barings, Richard nodded and smiled awkwardly, unsure of how else to respond.

Janie was clearly amused by the exchange, a smirk passing her lips.

"Fin, you got some kind of family reunion going on there." Rollins drawled from her desk. She had been taking in the entire exchange. Standing, she walked over and stood next to Fin. "Hey, I'm Amanda Rollins." She extended her hand out to Richard, purposefully.

"Richard Stabler." He said, extending is hand back and firmly shaking the female detective's proffered hand. Amanda, held is gaze for a moment, eyes narrowed, as if trying to read him before letting go and reaching to great the other two young officers.

"Keating." "Ramirez." They said in unison; reaching out in succession to shake Amanda's proffered hand.

"Nice to meet ya'll." She smiled.

Santorini piped up, ever interested in keeping his charges on task. "Well, this pretty much concludes our basic tour…" Gesturing to the squad. "Like the other units on preceding floors, the layout of the space is generally the same…. We got interrogation rooms here, the Family and Kids interview room, just over there… that is a little different from the other floors of course… and the squad holding areas over here…" he pointed.

"What's that?" Janie asked, Gesturing to the center door in the back.

"That is the Precinct Captain's Office. She's based in SVU, but runs the lot." Santorini stated as he gestured to the closed door. The blinds to the office where closed and while the room was mostly windows, no one could see the occupant of the office at the moment.

"Nice job on the 10 cent tour, Santorini." Rollins chuckled. "Why didn't I get a tour like that when I started?"

"Please, Amanda, like you would sit still long enough for orientation." Fin ribbed, elbowing her arm gently.

"Well,… yeah, I guess." Amanda nodded, amused by Fin's comment. "Probably pretty accurate, actually."

"I'll give you a tour any time Amanda! It's what I live for." Santorini joked, before lifting his clip board to his chest and looking off to the side, attempting a sort of statuesque stoicism.

"Probably too late now, Santorini." Amanda said, feigning disappointment.

The older officer turned back, nodding in amusement. After another beat he looked to the younger officers again. "Well, we only have a few minutes before we report back to the first floor so that you can work with your assigned training officers for the rest of the day." He looked back to Fin and Rollins. "You got any points of wisdom for these guys before I take them down stairs."

"Nah. I'll let you take care of that Santorini." Fin chuckled. "Seems like that is your skill set."

"That it is, Sarg." Santorini laughed, extending his had to the senior officer.

Fin reached out, shaking the man's hand before bringing him in for a pat on the back. "Don't be a stranger, Dennis. It would be great to see you up hear more often."

"Always a pleasure, Fin." He looked to the group. "We'll, perhaps we should make our way down stairs." Santorini said easily as he gestured for the younger officers to move toward the elevator. The officers heeded the man's words, turning back toward where they had entered the squad room. As they did so, Richard heard the click of a door lock, and then a female voice, low and strong, cut through the low hum of the bullpen.

"I have something to add."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you thought.**


	6. An Awkward Interrogation

**Author's Note: I've been out of commission due to illness for the last couple of days. Stupid cold. This chapter has seen a couple of edits. I hope that you like it.**

 **Please note that the story below was constructed for entertainment purposes. Cracker Jack makes no attempt to infringe on copyright or make a profit from the following story.**

* * *

 **The Rookie - By Cracker Jack**

 **July 17th, 2017**

 **16th Precinct**

The gaze of the collected cohort turned to the threshold of the Captain's office. Leaning against the door frame was a tall brunette, dressed in an immaculately pressed dress uniform, her hair drawn in a loose bun.

As Richard took in the sight of the woman at the door his eyes widened. HOLY SHIT! That was… his father's former partner!

"Captain Benson. To what do we owe this pleasure." Santorini beamed, clearly pleased to be in the presence of this particular senior officer.

Richard's mouth dropped open. Olivia Benson. OLIVIA. FREAKING. BENSON. She was not only NOT retired, as his father had assumed… she was his freaking boss. His. Commanding. Officer.

Olivia pushed off the door frame and walked gracefully toward the collection of officers at the center of her squad room. "I had a conference call end early, and saw some commotion out here. Being a former detective, you know… I felt the need to investigate, Santorini." She joked.

The group let out a collective chuckle at the Captain's joke, save for Richard, who was experiencing what he would consider the most severe case of immediate dry mouth that he had ever felt.

Last time he had seen this woman he had been a total ass to her. Not only that… she knew pretty much everything about his life between the ages of 4 and 18. … And now she was he goddamn boss. Holy God.

How was he… how was he gonna do this…

… How could he convince her he was going to be a good cop if she had already seen him flip his shit?

… How would she believe he could keep his cool when she had seen him beat a homeless man?

… How could he look her in the eye every day when he had basically called her a whore, with his father watching through the two way mirror?

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

"Whats up with the fancy cloths this morning, Liv." Fin asked, snapping Richard out of his internal panic attack.

"I have the CompStat briefing at 1PP at 11am." Olivia stated matter of factly.

"Oh yeah?" Fin's face scrunched in displeasure at the idea of such a task. "Have fun with that."

"Not so fast, Sergeant Tutola. You remember that you're supposed to present today as well, right?" Olivia reminded him. "The Perez case. You ran point for that."

"Fu… I mean, yes. Yes, I did." Fin covered himself quickly, fidgeting. "I was just pulling your leg, Liv."

An amused and knowing expression passed over Olivia's face. She looked as though she was trying to suppress a smile. "Uh huh. So then… you brought your blues today, right?"

"I… yeah." Fin said, moving a hand to his forehead. Now he remembered why he had his dress uniform pressed earlier in the week. "When do we leave?"

"1-hour. There's construction our side of the bridge. It's going to be crazy getting over to 1PP toward lunch time."

"Gotcha." Fin nodded, before looking to the group. "If you'll excuse me, I have to um, get ready…" With that Fin walked away from the group to his desk, grabbing a stack of files to the left before exiting to the SVU Crib located at the back of the floor.

"He's a primper." Amanda said with a hushed whisper to the group once Fin was out of earshot. "He's gonna go make himself look pretty for his presentation."

Santorini snorted, "Bah. Didn't figure Fin for the type." His mouth going into a crooked grin.

"Oh yeah." Olivia added with a smirk. "Fin is an onion… he's a deeply layered guy." She waited a beat before adding, her expression turning mischievous. "There is a mirror in his top desk drawer."

Amanda covered her mouth with the back of her hand. "I forget about that." She said through suppressed laughter.

"Oh..." Olivia responded easily, placing a hand on Rollins shoulder. "I'll never forget. I'll remember for the both of us if I have to."

Olivia turned to the members of the group, those remaining after Fin's quick exit, that is. "Well, enough about Fin, I'd like to meet the young crew we have here."

"Sure thing, boss-," Santorini started.

"Let me guess…" Olivia said looking the rookie officers over quickly before turning to Janie. "You must be Ramirez." Olivia extended her hand to the young woman. "When I called College Point this morning, Officer Smith from the academy spoke highly of you, said you have great marksmanship."

Janie, a usually verbose and out-going woman was 'star struck,' her cheeks turning red from having the Captain pay her such a compliment. Looking to the senior officer, shyly, "I… um, thank you Captain Benson." She stammered.

Olivia nodded to Janie reassuringly before moving then to Mike. Once again she extending her hand. "Then you must be Michael Keating. I had the pleasure of working with your brothers on a rape/homicide a few years back. You come from good people, Keating. And, from what I heard you got high marks in your investigative drills, too, that is nothing to slouch about."

Mike smiled broadly at the statement.

Olivia went on. "Most people think being a cop is about brawn, but it's really more about brains and using your instincts. Good Job."

Mike took Olivia's hand and shook it with great fervor. "Yes, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am…. And, ah…You can call me Mike, if you like."

Olivia smiled genuinely. "Informally, we have a last name policy around the precinct, especially with officers on the ground. For purposes for radio protocol, you know, so.… I'll stick with Keating for now, but thank you."

Olivia then shifted her position so that she was squarely in front of Richard. There was a bit of hesitation on her part, only a second really, but after a beat she reached out her hand "Been quite a while … and, uh…" She looked him up and down, "… looks like about 11 inches since I last saw you. You go by Richard now, correct."

Richard felt a bead of sweat roll past his left temple. Functioning on some sort of auto pilot, he responded with a reach of his hand as well. "Yeah, uh yes, I go by Richard now."

Richard took a moment now that she was right in front of him to look Olivia over. Olivia looked almost exactly the same as when he had last seen her. Her hair was a bit longer, and there were maybe one or two new wrinkles gracing the area around her eyes, but she was still the same tall, exotic woman he had known as his father's partner all those years ago. Same assessing gaze; same poker face.

Olivia, looked to Santorini. "These Officers have a meeting with there TOs soon, correct."

"Yes, Captain. In just a few minutes." Santorini affirmed as he looked at his watch. "We should get going, actually." He stated after another pause.

Having let Richard's had go, Olivia looked to the group. "We'll then. I'll be seeing you around," She started, "so... Dismissed."

Santorini, Janie, Mike, and Richard turned to go, and had made it 3 steps from the elevator, when Captain Benson added. "Except Stabler."

Richard turned back to face Olivia; nervous.

"I would like to see you in my office for a moment."

Richard looked to Santorini, whom immediately made a gesture toward Olivia, as if to say, 'Go Kid'. "You heard the Captain." He added.

"What about my training officer?" Richard started in a questioning half-whisper, hoping for a reprieve from the older officer.

A clueless Santorini responded, with a jovial point of his clipboard to Richard. "I'll cover for you, Stabler. No worries!"

Janie and Mike, for their part, were keeping relatively straight faces as Richard started to make his way toward Olivia, though Richard could tell from the wide look in Janie's eyes that she was wondering what the superior officer wanted from her friend.

Moving slowly Richard walked back toward the middle of the Squad.

Amanda, whom had just watched this little exchange, was amused by the look in the young officers eyes. Olivia was not gonna do anything to him. She was interested though. Amanda looked curiously at Olivia... What was her boss up to?

With no chance of finding out any time soon, she turned to Carisi. "You stare at that screen too long your eyes are gonna pop out." She joked loudly.

Carisi, whom had been deeply engrossed in his work and was unaware of the conversations occurring around him for the last few minutes, bolted upright at his partners voice calling his name. "Huh."

"Buy me a cup of coffee."

"What?" Cars said, still confused.

Annoyed, Amanda clarified…"That thing I did for you, I'm collecting. Buy me a Pumpkin Spice Latte." Amanda said, grasping his elbow to help direct him out of his chair and toward the elevator.

"Its summer, Rollins." Carisi said, gaining more awareness. "Is that even a thing right now?" His brow pinched in a sort of quizzical annoyance.

Amanda moved past Richard with Sonny close behind her. "Its fall in a cup, and you own me a coffee."

Richard, whom had been in a holding pattern as he watched the exchange, looked to Olivia, whom gestured silently with a nod of her head toward her office, indicating that he was to follow her. After passing the threshold to her office she closed the door with a click of the lock behind him. Stepping in, Olivia rounded her desk and took her place in the chair directly across from his.

She took a moment to look Richard up and down more fully, but remained silent. Then with a quick flick of her wrists Olivia picked up a file to the left of her desk and opened it, while grabbing reading glasses with her right hand and placing them across the bridge of her nose. She looked down to the file, scanning quickly.

Richard, unsure of what to do, looked at her desk and moved to sit, shuffling quickly. Once seated, his hands fiddled with his cap, which he had set in his lap. It seemed inappropriate to wear the cap in her office...disrespectful, like wearing a Yankees cap to mass.

His father had scolded him about that when he was 13.

Another second or two passed before Olivia broke the silence, "Don't be nervous, Richard." She said, drawing Richard's eyes to her presence across from him. She was still looking at the file.

"I'm not nervous." He said quickly.

Olivia looked up at Richard directly then, her eyes gazing directly into his. "You're sweating." She said, matter of factly.

Richard didn't know how to respond to that. Damn right, he was sweating… he _WAS_ nervous. He opted for another tact instead.

"Why did, uh, what is it that you would like to speak with me about?" He said, attempting gaining a bit footing on the situation. He needed to get back to his training officer soon to start his work day, and quietly sitting in his COs office was going to prolong this arguably, very awkward situation.

"I wanted to speak with you about two things, Richard." Olivia offered by way of explanation.

"Okay."

"First off, did you request this assignment?"

"Ah… no, I didn't."

"What are your plans?" Olivia had read Richards file. She had suspicions about what his plans were for his future… having seen several officers take a similar path.

"What do you mean?" He responded, unsure about where this was going.

"I'm mean, are you looking to move up the ranks in the Department, or is walking the beat as stop on your path to law school?"

Richard jerked, surprised by her statement. How could she possibly know that?

"I know what a pre-law course load looks like. I double majored, criminal justice and sociology, just like you." Olivia pointed to the file in front of her. "Says here that you graduated top of your class; impressive. Usually officers with the distinction of Magna Cum Laude in their file see the NYPD as more of a pit stop. So what is it for you?"

"I… um." Richard bumbled.

Olivia's eyes narrowed, and a frown turned the left corner of mouth just slightly. "Are you aware that the 16th Precinct is currently the top-rated Precinct in Manhattan? And that, as such, placement in our house is highly competitive?"

"I am… aware that 1-6 is exceptionally well respected," Richard stammered, "and, that it has great stats, yes. As far as Officer placement, though… I was not aware of that, Captain."

"Okay." Olivia placed her arms on the desk, hands clasped across the file she had set down in front of her. "Do you think, given that this was not your first choice in placement and that you have a long term career goal outside of law enforcement, that you will choose to stay here?"

"It's my first day…" Richard said, a bit of annoyance in his tone. "Why are you asking me this?"

Olivia removed her glasses. "Let me put it in a more basic way. At the end of 12 months your probationary status ends, allowing you to be transferred. What I am asking is, after 12 months, do you think you will still want to work here."

"I don't know." Richard stated, surprised by the tone of frustration in his own voice.

Olivia leaned back, completely calm. Her years of interrogation and undercover work made Olivia as cool as a cucumber, regardless of the tenor of the conversation. Picking the file up and tossing it with a light flap to Richard's side of the desk, she continued. "I'm not trying to upset you, Richard. This is something that I would ask any up-and-comer who had your information in their file.

Richard's expression turned to one of confusion once again.

"Based on your academy file you are an ideal candidate to work here. You-" Olivia pointed to the file in front of him. " — Excelled in your written and verbal examinations at the academy. Ranked very high in physical requirements, and according to this file, have 7 recommendations from instructors… more than any recruit I've seen come to us out of the academy in the last 5 years… You are the kind of person the NYPD hopes recruit, and **retain**."

She went on, "…But, you did not request this placement. You _clearly_ have an agenda about your time in the NYPD. Your file tells me as much. I do not want to invest department resources to training you to work in our house, if you don't want to stay. Especially in light of the fact that there is a line of freshly graduated recruits that do want to be here."

Richard was dumbstruck. And, he knew, with Olivia, all he could do was be honest. She would see through any attempt to lie. She had done it before.

"I put in for Brooklyn." He said seriously, "My wife and my son are in Brooklyn. I wanted to be close to them… but, I didn't get my first choice."

Richard paused for a moment.

"And, yeah, a law practice is my end goal. I have a mountain of student debt, and mortgage, and about 100,000 to save for grad school. Do I see myself working here in 10 years? No." Richard took a breath. "But, I am also aware of the opportunity that I have here, Olivia, I mean, Captain… I am here, now. And, I want to do this job."

Olivia looked at Richard in the eyes once more, her brow pinched as if deep in thought. She leaned back in her chair, assessing him.

After a beat, she leaned forward again. "Fair enough." Olivia nodded, her face returning to a neutral expression.

"What?" Richard started. "After all that?"

"Richard, I'm going to take you at your word on this, for now." Olivia explained.

"For now..." Richard repeated.

She continued, "Here's another question. Bare with me because this one has to be asked as well, but not for the same reason…Given my professional history with your father, do you feel comfortable working under my command?"

"I… um…What?"

"I mean…" she gestured between them quickly. "The last time we saw each other, I had to interrogate you." She stated bluntly.

"Olivia….I am… I uh." Richard started, awkwardly, realizing where this was going.

"Here is the thing, Richard." Olivia interrupted, needing to get to the point. "If you have any hesitation about heeding my directives or about working here and working with me… we'll that is going to be a problem. Again, I do not intend to invest time and department funds to train you if you don't think that you can handle that."

"No!" Richard stated a bit loudly. It wasn't quite a shout, but it certainly was not stated calmly.

Olivia's eyes to flash in surprise from his harsh tone, but her expression remained neutral.

Richard looked to her momentarily embarrassed. Christ. He was making this worse.

Sitting forward in his seat, Richard offered the only response he could, given the situation "Olivia, I'm sorry about the way I spoke just now, and I am sorry about what happened, back then."

Richard ran his a hand through his hair, before shaking his head and looking to the floor. "I was a kid… and I was angry about Shane…. Angry with my father…angry with my life…. And, I… I took it out on you… I should have never said that about you and my father."

"And about working here…" Richard added more calmly looking back up to face his captain. "I can handle it. I just, am really surprised that you are working here, and that you are my boss, and it will take some getting used to… but I can handle it."… "I swear."

Once again, Richard was under the scrutiny of Olivia's assessing gaze. He had to give it to the woman, she betrayed nothing other than what she wanted someone to see. Damn.

Olivia's eyes shifted to the left, her gaze moving to a framed picture at the edge of her desk. Then she nodded, as if deciding something.

Olivia flattened her hands to the desk and pushed herself upward, standing. Rounding the desk once more, she reached out a hand and took Richard's for a second time since they had met in the squad room about 15 minutes earlier. This time though, Olivia used both hands in a comforting gesture. "Apology accepted." She said, genuine.

Surprised but pleased, Richard reciprocated the gesture, reaching out in kind as he stood to meet her. "You know, I always told myself that if I saw you again I would apologize about, you know, what I said about you and my father…. I really am sorry."

"Thank you." Olivia nodded sincerely. "I know this seemed a little out of the blue, but… it is important to me that if you work here we start off on the right foot. Clean slate and all that. I needed to know that you take your time here seriously and that you feel comfortable working with me, given my history with your father."

Richard nodded. Her questions made sense. It was not exactly the most enjoyable conversation he had ever had, but... he understood.

"I was not kidding about what I said earlier, Richard. You don't want to work here for whatever reason; your family, travel, being at the 16th with your father's history here, that's fine; _no judgement from me_. But while you're here, I need you to BE here FULLY. Show me that you are a good cop, Richard."

"Absolutely." Richard stated firmly. "I'll do my best."

Having made a tentative peace, the two of them shifted toward the door.

"You really did get tall." She joked, breaking the seriousness of the previous moment.

"Yeah. A last minute gift from the genetic gods that I didn't know I was in line to get." Richard played along. "It's not all fun and impressing coworkers. My wife basically makes me reach for everything higher than 6 ft in the kitchen… which is funny because she is 5'9"

Olivia reached for the door and drew it open. "One more thing before you go…" She smiled. "What's your son's name?"

Richard expression lightened. A full and toothy grin spreading across his lips for the first time that morning. "Benny. His name his Benny."

"Nice. How old?" Olivia continued, pleased to see that Richard was so excited about being asked such a question.

"He's two and a half."

Olivia nodded, smiling broadly in kind. "They're fun at that age."

Richard gave her a quizzical look.

To his recollection Olivia had no children.

Olivia, for her part, chose not to explain herself or respond to his unvoiced reaction. "Well, you have to get back to your T.O." Olivia said, breaking Richard from his contemplation, her poker face in tact as if the lightness of her expression moments ago had been a figment of his imagination.

"Indeed." Richard responded, stepping through the threshold of Olivia's office and out into the squad room. He turned back to face her.

Olivia leant toward the side of the frame once more. Richard felt a sense of Deja Vu. Only this time, instead of a wave of fear hitting his gut, he felt a tingle of anticipation wash over him. Yeah it would be weird, working for Olivia... but it could also be good. It could be amazing actually. She was, after all, elite... as Janie would say.

Olivia cast a smile toward the young officer "Have a good rest of your first day, Richard... and let me know if you need anything..." Her eyes shifted downward, "I know your dad called Fin to keep a look out for you and your friends..." She started, an expression of disappointment passing her face for only a second before her typical stoicism returned.

Looking back up she continued "... but if you ever need anything, let me know." She offered quietly.

"Thank you Olivia... that means a lot."

"You're dismissed, Officer Stabler."

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 **Thanks for reading. Things are going to start picking up over the next few chapters. Hopefully I'll have a little action for you soon.**


	7. The Rabbi Speaks the Truth

**Authors Note: Yeah. It has been about a month since I have updated the story. Life has been busy. I'll be traveling for work in the coming weeks so there may be an additional delays due to this. I'll work to get some chapters up when I can. Stick with it. I promise I will update when I can.**

 **Please note that the story below was constructed for entertainment purposes. Cracker Jack makes no attempt to infringe on copyright or make a profit from the story.**

* * *

 **July 17th, 2017**

 **3:04pm**

 **Department Sedan, Midtown Traffic**

"You doing alright, Liv?"

Fin and Olivia were currently sitting in a department issue sedan. The beginnings of Midtown's rush hour making the traffic move at a slow crawl. The CompStat meeting had run 2 hours longer than expected, and the pair were starting what would be a long pilgrimage to the 16th precinct. The actual distance was not far, but the construction near the bridge, coupled with people trying to get away from the office before 5pm, made for a traffic cocktail that was testing the limits of that particular areas infrastructure.

Fin adjusted the length of seatbelt, which was currently stretched near his neck, trying to keep it from cutting in just under his dress collar… it was uncomfortable, and he knew there was no way they would be getting out of the car anytime soon. In an effort to distract himself, he made another attempt to get his boss talking. "You were quiet on the ride over and have said maybe two words since we left 1PP."

Olivia, whom had taken off her dress jacket when they had returned to the car after their presentation, sat in her lieutenant's white shirt with her sleeves rolled up, the left breast pocket of her shirt heavy with adornments of her rank. It was not a particularly hot day but there was a decent warmth in the air and being trapped in the company car for the next hour would only make the heat worse, hence the informal adjustment to her attire. Her gaze was directed toward the passenger-side window, out to the street. Her expression one of contemplation.

"I'm just thinking about how things change." Olivia offered after a moment. "Peoples lives go in directions you can never predict, you know… I would have never predicted Dickie becoming a cop."

Fin nodded in understanding, both hands placed firmly at 10 and 2 on the steering wheel. "Yeah, I know what you're sayin'." He paused, before adding, "Kid got big, too."

Olivia looked over to Fin and smiled with an almost comical expression. "Fucking huge." She lifted her hand perpendicularly above her head practically touching the ceiling of the car, emphasizing her point. "He's a giant." She returned her gaze back toward the window, shaking her head, amused.

A minivan in front of their sedan moved forward slightly. Conversation stilled again, with only the sounds of the car lurching forward two or three feet audible as they sat.

After another moment Olivia broke the silence again. "You know, I also never saw myself leading the squad, let alone the precinct." A strange, almost resigned smile passed Olivia's lips, "I figured that… well I thought it would be Elliot's thing."

It had been quite some time since Fin had heard Olivia reference Elliot in any fashion. Hearing her mention his name now seemed almost foreign. The sound of her former partners name awkward on her lips.

Fin considered Olivia's statement for a moment. After a beat he spoke. "Nah Liv, you always struck me as the lifer. Stabler _had_ a strong constitution for the job… but, girl… you've always been stronger."

Olivia turned to Fin, eyes questioning.

"For real, Liv." Fin said seriously, "You're the strong one…. you stuck around when it got hard... He didn't."

"I don't think Elliot would agree with that." Olivia said softly, eyes averting. Her expression becoming one of embarrassment.

Fin's grip tightened on the wheel a bit, his nose and brow scrunched in consternation as he watched his friends response. He took a deep breath. "Look Liv. I know that stuff has been… weird with you and Stabler over the years. Hell, I always tried not to ask about your business, but I do have eyes."

Olivia looked back to Fin, curious as to where he was going with this.

"I know that he has some warped view of your exit to Computer Crimes, and then that undercover stint, but seriously… you always came back."

Olivia's lips parted. She was preparing to interrupt him. To defend Elliot.

"No Olivia." Fin said sternly, cutting her off.

Olivia tensed, but remained quiet, her mouth closing and her brow creasing.

He could see that his friend wanted to fight him on this. Olivia had always taken too much upon herself. She bore the weight of errors that were not hers. And while she, like anyone, was fallible, Olivia took on more emotional baggage about things then most.

When Munch had 'retired' from SVU, he had taken Fin out to lunch and made him promise to watch out for their friend.

As Olivia's second in command Fin's job was to back her up. He did that professionally, but even more so, he was willing to back her up in this. Fin took his right hand off the wheel and did something very rare. He reached toward her and grasping his Captain's left hand, took it into his own.

"I know what happened with Jenna was hard for Elliot. And I know that you blame yourself for him leaving. You have some misguided belief that all the beef you had during your partnership somehow added to his choice to leave. I get that." He squeezed her hand and continued. "But whatever kind of crap happened when you worked together is not a good enough reason to leave the way he did. And as for what happened with the girl... that was terrible, but shit's hard for everyone, Liv. You more than anyone, know that."

Olivia looked away in that moment, her need to keep her emotions in check taking over. But she didn't let go of Fin's hand.

"You have been through hell in the last 6 years and YOU have stayed. Not only that, you've stepped up for our house. You lead us…" Fin paused. "Elliot could never do that."

The sedan became silent once again as they both let Fin's words sink in.

Olivia brushed her free hand over her eyes.

After another beat, Olivia turned to Fin, her expression open. With her hand still clasped in his, she offered similar gesture, squeezing gently. "Thanks." She said, thickly.

"No problem, Liv... Besides, you know me. I speak the truth, girl." Fin said, attempting to add some levity to the moment.

Bringing her hand back to rest in her lap, Olivia, looked down. "I did stick around." She nodded as if to affirm this for herself.

"… How did he sound when you spoke to him… Elliot I mean." Olivia asked quietly.

Fin considered her question for a moment. "He sounded okay. Our conversation was short. He seemed proud that Richard decided to become a cop."

"Hmm." Olivia hummed. Thoughtfully she added, "I hope Noah never wants to become a police officer."

"Word. I'm glad Ken is a computer geek. I'd flip my shit if he ever wanted the life."

Olivia nodded.

Fin spoke tentatively. "You know… he gave me his new number, asked me to call him tonight to give an update on his boy. …do you want it; his number, I mean?"

Olivia looked at him then. Her bottom lip drawn in slightly. "No." Olivia stated after another second. "I don't think he would be interested in that. I think that... it's clear he… wants his space."

Fin bristled in his seat, his hands flexing on the steering wheel. "I think he's had enough space." He said under his breath before he could stop himself.

Olivia face contorted and she began laughing sharply at his comment. "You do indeed speak the truth, Fin."

That was not the reaction Fin had expected from such a comment. But her response amused him and he followed suit, laughing quietly.

"I agree with you there." Olivia said after a beat, turning to him with a sad smile.

The sedan inched forward as the traffic started its slow crawl through the green light ahead.

"… Did you know I called him every day for 6 months." Olivia offered after a moment of silence.

"He's an asshole, Liv." Fin grunted.

Olivia looked out toward the sea of traffic in front of their vehicle. "Yeah... asshole" She offered breathily… "A broken one."

* * *

 **Elliot Stabler's Apartment**

 **10:23pm**

Elliot sat on his couch, the 10pm news quietly playing in front of him. Quickly, images flashed across the screen of the latest political scandal, creating a stark juxtaposition to the human-interest stories about the goings on in New York over the last 24 hours that had been playing moments earlier.

Elliot kept an eye toward the play of light and color on the screen, but really, he was only marginally paying attention. He was waiting for a phone call.

Fin had promised he would call, and dammit if Elliot was not waiting with baited breath for that damn phone call.

Elliot had attempted to speak to his son a few hours earlier about his first day at work, but the call had gone somewhat unsuccessfully.

 _"Dad, I'm sorry I can't speak right now." Richard had responded immediately after answering, his tone somewhat harried. "Jess, is making an emergency run for pull ups. We're out. And Ben is in a mood."_

 _The sound of Elliot's grandson could be heard in the back ground, a low agitated cry sounding from the toddler._

 _"It's no problem, Rich… sounds like your boys a bit perturbed." Elliot had responded, attempting to sound accepting, and rather poorly masking the disappointment in his voice._

 _He must have been successful enough though, because Richard responded as if he didn't notice his father's awkward tone. "It's been hell getting him down the last couple of nights. I think he might be going through some sort of phase or something." A muffled sound of shuffling came over the receiver, and a soft-toned Richard could then be heard. "Come on little guy, calm down."_

 _A quieter breathy cry of the young boy could be heard more clearly now, Richard having picked up his son in one hand, while still cradling the phone with the other._

 _"Sounds like you have your hands full Richard. We can talk tomorrow. I just called to see how your first day went."_

 _There was a pause on the phone. "It was interesting. Yeah, we should definitely talk about it."_

 _"Sure thing. Talk to you soon."_

That had been about an hour ago. And, while Elliot was intrigued about his son's day and his reference to it being interesting… he was pretty sure he would get a more accurate report from Fin.

All the Stabler children played their hand pretty close to the vest… They were private to the extreme, more willing to suffer in silence about any issue, rather than share their feelings. His daughter Maureen was by far the most open of his children, other than Eli, who shared information as a young child would, openly and without malice or hesitation.

He was pretty sure he had passed on this this trait for keeping everything bottled up. And now, when trying to pull information from his kids about their lives, it made for a particularly difficult series of inquiries, especially if they were having a hard time.

Elliot was absolutely sure that was why it had taken his daughter, Lizzie, so long to come out to him.

He had suspected that she was gay for years, since she was 13. As a teenager, when she would go out she would just refer to her date as JT. ... He later found out that JT meant Jennifer Thompson, a neighbor girl his daughter had been friends with since they where young children. That particular bit of information had left him stunned. Little Jenny T. had been his daughters girlfriend for the better part of high school, and he had had no idea.

Christ.

Lizzie had told him that she was gay during her 3rd year of college. About a month after that Elliot found out that he had been the last one in the family to know, officially.

Looking back on the situation, Elliot attributed the delay in his daughter's disclosure to the fact that he was probably at his most absent, both physically and emotionally, during that time. He had moved out of his families home into his apartment… and had started seeing a therapist… but he was still, somewhere else. As a result, his kids had stopped telling him things. This along with their Stabler stoicism made Elliot feel like he was in the dark half the time.

The chime of Elliot's cell phone pulled him from his wanderings. Looking at he screen, Elliot's eyes widened. He slipped his index finger quickly across the screen and brought the phone to his ear. "Fin."

"Sorry to call this late, Elliot. We had crime scene." Fin said gruffly, clear exhaustion, coupled with something else that Elliot could not quite place lacing his tone.

"No worries, Fin. I'm just glad to hear from you." Elliot offered.

Skipping any sort of chit chat Fin started addressing the reason for his call. "I can't tell you too much because I was presenting at CompStat for half the day, but I can give you some basics."

"Okay. Anything is great. I tried talking to Richard earlier and he was a little busy, so we didn't really get a chance to discuss his day." Elliot responded, a bit of disappointed coloring the statement.

"Sure." Fin began. "So, your boys TO is Tom Helms. You remember him?"

"Yeah. Good cop. By the book." Elliot responded before asking, "Helms is still a uniform? What's it been 12 years?"

"Some of us don't get a gold shield right away, Elliot. Besides, Tom likes the gig. He's good at it." Fin offered.

"Richard should do fine with him. I'm sure they'll get along." Elliot sighed. "Would have preferred Jackson for him. She's a pistol and will keep Rich on his toes."

"Jackson is working with one of the other Rookies that came in with Richard. Mike something or other."

Elliot paused for a moment before asking his next question, hoping he did not come off sounding too protective. "Do you know when they start their patrols?"

"Assuming there is no major emergency or case…. tomorrow, Elliot. You know how it goes." Fin said, curt.

"Yeah." Elliot huffed.

"Anything else of note… he didn't piss anyone off did he… spill coffee on whomever your new captain is?"

At the statement Fin bristled. "Nah man."

Elliot didn't respond, unsure of reason for the change in Fin's mood.

Fin feeling a bit awkward about his tone, shifted to another tact. "...Santorini toured him and the other rookies in the morning. After that I don't know much… but knowing standard procedure, they stayed in house today, learning the basics. From what I can tell he did fine. Stayed pretty quiet when he was in SVU though… probably a little Déjà vu for him." Fin sighed and continued. "My read on your boy is that he is going to do fine. He seems polite, respectful, and observant… he should do okay… if I see any red flags I'll let you know."

Elliot cleared his throat. "Okay. Well, thanks Fin. I really appreciate you taking the time to call and let me know how things went today."

"No problem, Elliot."

"... Seriously Fin. Thank you."

"I... Yeah. It's cool Elliot. Happy to help your boy." Fin said pointedly, and with that hung up.

Elliot pulled the phone from his ear and looked at the screen, his brow low. A small frown turning down the corner of his lips.

With a sigh he tossed the phone to the corner of the couch.

Well, hell if that was not awkward.

Fuck.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. Hope you liked this chapter. Next chapter be more action oriented. Promise. :)**


	8. The Heat

**Authors Note: So, I'm writing some more despite my need to prepare for my trip. I want to try and get this up so the following chapter can get to an actual meeting of all the key players. #awkward #meetingtime.**

 **Warning: This chapter addresses case work and as such has a component of violence against young people as well as against Policemen.**

 **Please note that the story below was constructed for entertainment purposes. Cracker Jack makes no attempt to infringe on copyright or make a profit from the story.**

* * *

 **Wednesday, August 2, 2017, 11:45am**

 **Skyline Diner, Midtown Manhattan**

Richard sat in the far booth from the door; his hands fiddling with the silverware placed on a napkin just to the left side of his coffee cup. The cool quality of the metal was a nice contrast to the heat that had taken hold of the city in the last week.

It was hot.

As hell.

And he was wearing a polyester uniform all day… every day.

Gross.

He felt gross.

If Richard was a slightly different person, perhaps more whiney or more particular about the level of sweatiness he was willing to endure, he might regret his occupational choice at the moment… but he wasn't too particular… and as gross as he felt… it could be worse.

At least he was not in the Mounted Unit. Those guys had to wear long sleeves and heavy vests just in case they got jilted from their horse. Plus, that horse was like a giant walking heater that they had to sit on all day. And, the Tactical Teams had to wear SWAT gear and body-armor no matter what the temperature was outside. Sometimes, if an incursion ran long in this type of heat… guys would faint from heat exhaustion.

Nothing says "Put down your weapon and surrender" like a heat-stroked policeman.

No. Richard knew he was lucky. He could get away with short sleeves on his blues since he was walking a beat with his training officer this week.

He was still hot, though.

Opting for a different tact to extend his relief from the heat, Richard ran his palms against the lacquered oak of the booth's tabletop, taking a moment to revel in the cool feeling radiating up his hands and into his forearms.

Nice.

He knew it wouldn't last too long. He would have to get back to work soon. He had just a little over 45 minutes for lunch and then he would be back out in the heat with his TO… doing foot patrols.

Richard, for the most part, actually liked foot patrols.

It was better then riding in a company rig. The patrol cars were ancient. Only the detectives and higher ups got access to rides made in the last 5 years. All the uniforms were in patrol vehicles that had been pushed off the factory line in the mid-2000s, and the wear and tear was definitely starting to become apparent. Especially in this heat. Very few cars had fully functional air systems… so … yeah. Doing car patrols was definitely not Richard's thing right now.

Besides, on foot he got to meet people, learn the area they were assigned to work. It was enjoyable, really. He and is TO, Helms, had been getting coffee from this little bodega and cafe down route from their perimeter. The elderly woman worked the counter, Louise, made the best Americano Richard had ever tasted.

A chime sounded from the front of the diner breaking Richard from his musings, and he looked toward the door. Janie entered, Mike following close behind. Immediately upon seeing Richard, Janie smiled broadly and nodded once in greeting before making her way over. "Hey Buddy!" Janie said once she had reached the booth. Maneuvering gracefully, she sat down in the corner of the booth. "Long-time no see, friend."

"Not really." Mike said sarcastically, as he followed suit and sat across from Richard. "We saw Rich this morning, in the bull pen. Right, dude." He added, raising a hand in one long reach, and slapping Richard firmly on the shoulder.

Janie rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. It's been a while since we got to step away for a bit to grab a bite to eat. All we've been doing is working or talking about working… I'm just excited to you know… do something a different."

Mike… never one to take a hint about anything, spoke next, "So Rich, how do you like your training officer? Now that you've had a couple weeks to work with him?"

Richard smiled at Janie, a silent apology in his eyes, but answered Mikey's inquiry anyway. "Helms? He seems good. He's a little bit serious for my taste, but kind. What I appreciate most, I think, is that he tells it like it is… doesn't mince words if I fuck something up; just tells me… kinda reminds me of my dad, actually." Richard said before palming his napkin and placing it in his lap.

Richard's thoughts went to his father then. It had been several weeks since he had talked with his dad. They had not spoken since he called to see how his first day went. Jeez… he hadn't meant to leave his father hanging…. he and Jess had just been so busy with their jobs, and Benny. Time had gotten away from him.

'I'll call him tonight.' Richard thought to himself.

"Oh, you mean the legend?" Janie said, breaking Richard from his thoughts. She smiled conspiratorially, reaching across to snap a finger in Richard's line of vision. 'Earth to Rich."

"Not this again, guys." Richard replied after he got his barrings, a tinge of exasperation lacing his tone.

Mike leaned back as the waitress leaned in to pour some coffee into his mug, waiting to respond until she exited. "Rich, I'm sorry… but Janie's pretty accurate on this… Since most people know you who your dad is now, we keep hearing all these stories about your pops, you know… and I got to say, legend seems like a pretty apt description… he and the Captain kicked some major ass back in the day." His eyes widened in appreciation. "I liked that story about the burger."

"What? -" Richard started.

"Correction, Mikey" Janie interrupted, pointed her hand to the table and tapping hard in exclamation. "Captain Benson kicks ass today, like now… Like she is kicking ass right now."

Richard snorted, looked down and shook is head.

Mike nodded in agreement with Janie, an expression of admiration passing his features. "True… You hear about that interrogation she assisted with last week. Officers at her level rarely step in to interrogations. She got that guy to confess in 7 minutes. The cops in Homicide had been working on him for 3 hours." He raised his hand and extended three fingers to emphasize his point, wiggling them playfully. "Three."

Richard shook his head once more, but smiled despite himself. "I get it, guys… Benson and Stabler are your spirit animals." He let a somewhat resigned expression pass his face, then. "Even still, I'm sure you've heard more then just the "legendary" stuff by now... about my father…right."

Janie nodded, but chose to say nothing to his statement.

"It's not all rainbows and unicorns." Richard said seriously. "Legendary cops" as you put it, come with some baggage. And remember, I lived with one of them for 18 years... he wasn't always a nice guy... sometimes he would be home for weeks because he got suspended for hurting someone or mouthing off. Sometimes he would do stupid stuff, like piss off people at work. There was even, like, a 4-month period where he and Olivia were not talking..."

A petulant expression passed over Janie's face, and she pouted her lips. "Rich, don't bring down my buzz, man."

"Yeah." Mike added, elbowing Janie's shoulder lightly. "You interrupt her hero worship of the boss and she might actually get some work done."

"Please." Janie shot back, looking away from Mike, but a smile passed her lips despite the dig.

"Just sayin', guys." Rich chuckled, taking a moment to place the menu in his hands down on the cool oak. The waitress had reached their table.

After the waitress had taken their orders the conversation continued.

"What about you? How are you liking your training officer?" Richard asked, looking to Mike.

"Jackson's, cool." Mike said, taking a sip of his coffee. "She's hilarious, and I feel like she has a similar working style to me. She's razzed me on a couple things, but nothing big… mostly paperwork stuff… speaking of that… why do we have, like, 98 forms."

Janie rolled her eyes. "98 forms seems like a high estimate, Mikey. It's more like 17 forms."

"I don't think so, Jay" Mikey waggled his eyebrows, looking between his friends, "Seems like a lot more than that too me."

"What about you?" Richard turned to Janie, "How is your new TO?"

"I think he's gonna be good. It might take him and I a while longer to find a groove… hasn't happened yet, though…." She said, shifting in her seat.

"What do you mean?" Richard asked, his brow creasing.

"Well." Janie started, "I just get the feeling that he is not too pleased to have a female rookie. He seemed a little aloof the first week… and, um… I don't know there has been something with his body language since we started working together."

"Body language!" Mikey cracked, "Like what, he didn't open the door for you or something."

"No!" Janie shot back. "He… uh never walks with me, always in front of me. And… sometimes he will walk away when I'm talking to him…"

Mikey rolled his eyes. "Are you gonna go all super feminist on Rich and me?"

Janie turned to face Mike fully; her tone taking on a hard, less jokey, quality. "It's not something I would expect you to understand, you white, male-privileged ass."

Mike, whom had chosen that moment take another drink of his coffee, choked, spitting it out onto his lap and the table.

"Shit, my uniform."

Richard stared at his two friends across the booth, a combination of amusement, and a bit of concern, tempering his expressing. He leaned forward attempting to intervene, but was unsuccessful.

Gaining his composure, Mike grabbed his napkin and started dabbing at his shirt and lap. "Are you serious? Male-privileged! Really?" His dabbing became more frantic, and a frown set across his lips as he looked at his pants. "It looks like a peed myself, Jay" Mike said pointing to his lap.

All of Janie's sound and fury dissipated, and her face contorted to reveal an expression of repressed laughter. She rapped her long fingers over her mouth to cover the evidence of her amusement at his plight.

"Jay!"

"Guys. Keep it friendly. We're in public." Richard looked to Mike, trying unsuccessfully to suppress his own laughter as well.

"She made me spit out my coffee!" Mike started. He turned to Janie, ready to start back in again, a means to temper his clear embarrassment.

"Don't play dumb." Richard interjected. "You spit out your coffee because she called you out. Richard then turned to Janie then, "Jay, if it gets weird with your TO, report it to Santorini."

"It's still early. Don't worry, I'm keeping an eye on it." Janie said evenly. "If there is reason to be concerned, I will be reporting it. Trust."

* * *

 **16th Precinct**

 **Patrol Squad Room, 12:38pm**

After a what felt like a leisurely lunch, Richard, Janie, and Mike returned to the 16th precinct where there was a flurry of activity taking place. While the 1-6 was an active precinct, and lunch usually brought no shortage of interesting cases and perps into the building, the number of people and the louder than usually buzz of conversation in the air was noticeable.

"What's is going on." Janie said, scanning the room.

Richard, whom had the same question, used his considerable height to see if he could spot their Sergeant. After scanning the room quickly he locked eyes with his Training Officer, Helms. Not his commanding officer, but definitely the next best thing.

Helms, a middle-aged man with greying hair, nodded once toward Richard. Helms was not especially large, but broad-shouldered, which made his journey as he maneuvered toward Richard and his friends an awkward one. Upon arrival he immediately started talking. "Good. Glad you guys are back. I was about to call you back in, Stabler."

"What's going on?" Mike asked, ignoring that Helms had been speaking to his his trainee.

"We're being called into a meeting?" Helms offered by way of explanation before looking Mikey up and down. "What happened to your pants, kid."

Mike's ears turned a deep shade of red and his jaw dropped, presumably to rebuke the assumption that Helms has made about his wet/stained attire.

"A meeting?" Richard said quickly, a means to interrupt what would likely be the deranged rantings about Mike's pants. He gestured out into the open bull pen. "And all of this?"

"All of us are being called into this meeting." Helms reiterated.

"The entire precinct?" Janie said, her eyes wide.

"No, Just Patrol, Tactical, and SVU." Helms explained.

"That's like…. over 100 people." Mike said, almost in awe.

Helm's shook his head, a bit annoyed. "There is a big canvas today. We are looking for the perp that has been cutting people in central park."

"Really?" Janie slipped before she could stop herself, her eyes going wide. Everyone in the precinct was familiar with the incidents. SVU had taken on the case after the first attack 9 days earlier. The leads had been shallow and the news coverage had been fierce in the last 3 days.

An oblivious Helm's continued, " Yeah, parks big. We are gonna need a lot of people." He said, with a tone that implied that it was obvious. He crooked and arm toward the exit. "Now lets head over to the blue room."

Without another word Helm's turned on his heels and started making his way with the other uniformed officers to the hallway.

"Blue room?" Richard asked in a hushed tone to no one in particular as everyone moved slowly, like cattle, through the hallway. After about and minute and 3 hallways later they then reached a pair of double doors. Richard had never been in this part of the precinct before. Upon walking into the space he immediately recognized it as being similar to spaces that he had seen police press conferences take place on the news.

"Blue room." Mike stated in awe, as they walked into the small auditorium.

"Wow." Janie added, close behind.

Uniformed officers shuffled in and started taking their seats. The space was not actually blue, save for a single long ultramarine strip lining the perimeter of the room. It was not a huge space, but was easily able to accommodate the 150 plus people that were making their way into the room. After another 5 minutes everyone was seated, a dull murmur traversing the room.

Richard glanced around, taking a moment to absorb this new setting. He noted a that large screen showing a faintly illuminated NYPD insignia was situated at the front of the space.

Through a side door, toward the base of the auditorium style room, several Detectives entered. Richard recognized Fin, and the other detectives that he had met a few weeks back, Rollins and Carisi. They were followed by two white shirts with crowned shields... Captains, probably. After another beat Captain Benson entered.

"Lights." Olivia's stated loudly as she reached the podium, immediately silencing the quiet chatter that had been permeating the room.

Everything went black, save for the a new highly lit projection at the front.

'This is Amy." The Captain began.

On screen the harsh white light of the projector illuminated the portrait of a girl, no more than 6 years old. Her eyes were wide and red-rimmed, her expression a mixture of sad and confused. A large cut, freshly sutured, stretched from her temple to her chin.

"Nine days ago Amy was attacked in Central Park. This happened in broad daylight, somewhere between the Zoo and the Ramble. She was attacked between 2pm and 6pm. At the time she gave us a very basic description. She said the suspect was tall with blond hair, 'funny teeth', and glasses."

Another imaged flashed across the screen. This time showing two images of little girls instead of one. Like Amy, they had cuts on their faces. Richard winced at the image.

"The girl on the left is May Lee. The girl on the right is Ella Davis. Both of these children were attacked 3 days ago. As you can see, like the first victim, their faces were cut in a similar fashion. This happened on the far side of the Park, toward the Met. May Lee was attacked around 1pm and Ella, closer to 5pm." Olivia paused for a moment. Taking a drink of water from the cup to the left side of the podium. She cleared her throat. "Like Amy, they both described the perp as being tall, with blond hair, 'funny teeth', and glasses."

Olivia took a deep breath.

"Okay, guys. Prepare yourselves." Olivia added, solemnly. Her tone thick, then. Disappointed. Another image flashed across the screen. Unlike the previous images of scared little girls with their faces marked by the edge of a knife, this image was of the park, taken at night. The flash that had been used made the colors garish. The image was of a child lying facedown, tucked near a bush, unmoving."

"This, is Charlie Willam. He was 5 years old. Last night he was found underneath a bush in the park. Near the Zoo. He was cut as well, twice on the face… he passed away from his wounds. Charlie was a hemophiliac and when the perp cut his face he bled out quickly."

"Oh my god. Janie burst next to Richard, before she could stop herself. Embarrassment at the outburst coupled with the implied horror of the image, caused Janie to cover her eyes. Even though the image of the boys face was not being shown, just thinking about the act deeply upset her her.

A few officers mumbled in the crowed.

Richard reached over, and taking her free hand in his, attempted to discretely calm Janie with a reassuring squeeze of his hand.

"My thoughts, exactly Ramirez." Olivia interjected softly, but sternly. Bring attention back to the front of the room.

Another image flashed onto the wall. This time the picture was of a fresh-faced, and very much alive Charlie. The image showed him sitting on a bench, a broad smile across is face at whomever had taken his picture that day.

"Charlie was taken sometime between 3 and 3:45pm from the Zoo. He was found at 7pm last night. His parents had been working with Zoo officials and park police to find him. We were part of the search. We asked the media to hold on releasing this information because we believe now that the media coverage is making our perp escalate. The frequency of attacks has increased and as you can see… he is taking more risks… he is pushing the bounds of his pathological behavior."

A faint image flashed on screen. The image showed a man in his late 20s with blond hair and dark, large framed glassed. "This is Milton Stiles. He's 27 years old, lives with his mother, and works for the park service as a landscaper. He has not been home in 3 days. We have officers at his house just in case he shows up there. Last night he was captured on park surveillance tossing his park services uniform jacket into a trashcan. It was recovered and once found was shown to be covered in blood… and preliminary test show the same blood type as Charlie Willem. This morning our 3 living victims picked his image out of a photo array."

Olivia paused once more. "Lights." She said after a beat.

The room flooded with bright florescent light once again. Once Richard's eye's focused, he saw that Fin and Carisi had made there way up the stadium steps of the space and were passing out handouts with Stiles drivers license photo and the image from the surveillance camera.

"This is our Guy. And, according to our pattern. He is going to strike again this afternoon." Olivia stated firmly, before adding, "Rollins can you brief our team on the profile."

The blond detective stepped up to the podium and began addressing the details she had been prompted to provide. "Stiles has shown himself to he erratic with his choice of hunting grounds at the part… but we know three things. The attack will take place at the park. The place will be child friendly, and it spread out. Each time he was able to find children at a distance away from their parents before he took them somewhere to cut them. Look for places with play structures, puppet shows, kid-centric activities that parents watch from a distance. Oh, and hiking trails. Parents sometimes let their children walk a bit ahead... When we find him, he'll be trying to look inconspicuous, and likely still be wearing his park uniform from last night, which is green."

Rollins took a breath, clearly tired. "The boy, last night, Charlie, was an accident. We think, based on the pattern he did not have any intention of killing him... but Charlie's condition caused him to bleed out quicker then out perp expected... which is why Stiles dragged him behind that bush. Stiles is smart, but impatient. We can see this with the increase in attacks. Seeing his work on the news makes him want to relive the experience again, and again. He's loosing his ability to control of the timing on these incidents... starting to do them with more frequency, each day."

Rollins scrubbed a hand over her face before pushing her bangs out of her eyes and continued. "According to his mother he is a trained hunter, having bow hunted with his father when he was a boy. This means that he's not afraid to take a life. He will have at minimum a knife, which he will feel very comfortable using. If you find him, engage from a distance of at least 5 feet unless you think you can take him down or talk him down before he pulls his weapon. He will likely be aggressive if engaged, so be careful."

Rollins stepped down and Olivia stepped back up to the podium. "Thank you, Amanda." After a beat she addressed the group. "You will be canvasing in teams of four. Your squad leaders will be prepping you on location and team make up. If you see Stiles radio for back up. I repeat. Radio for back up."

Olivia grasped both sides of the podium then. Bracing herself, as if what she was about to say might be difficult. "If he has a child and that child is in clear and present danger, take him out."

"Fuck." Richard said under his breath.

* * *

 **The Ramble, Lakeside, 2:37pm**

"Stabler to 16 Mobile. Second patrol at post 10. No sign of Stiles." Richard stated into his shoulder mic.

"Copy that." Said a female voice "Over". Mobile command was located at the west side of the park and officers on Patrol were being asked to radio back every half an hour to make sure they were keeping to the correct route.

"I hope we don't find him… I hope someone else does." Janie stated as he walked next to Richard, the crunch of dry leaves and small branches that had fallen onto the path crackling under her feet.

Richard looked at her but said nothing.

Janie's TO, Christinson, who was 10 feet ahead with Helms, responded, craning his neck as he walked forward slowly. "You afraid you might kill him?" He asked.

Janie jerked at the bluntness of his question, eyes wide, but decided to respond despite what Richard assessed was a pretty accurate read of her feelings. "Nah. I wouldn't kill him." She responded, trying to sound casual. "...I would shoot his balls off."

Christinson turned fully then, stopping in his tracks. "Remind me never to piss you off, Ramirez." His tone was joking but his eyes showed a whisper of concern, his brow pinched, trying to read her further.

"Just don't hurt kids and it shouldn't be a problem." Janie responded, serious as hell.

Christinson smirked, one eyebrow raising. "Gotcha."

Richard watched then as Christinson turned to Helms and picked up the pace the had walked before, taking a moment before he quipped. "Told you she's cool."

Richard looked to Janie then, an eyebrow raised as they continued to walk, silently.

Her lips pursed briefly, curiously, before she nodded forward to her TO, mouthing the words, "Perhaps, he's okay."

* * *

Another hour of Patrol passed as they walked the margins of the Ramble and the park boundary. Richard and Janie where now walking ahead, taking point. Their TOs opting to walk at a distance of 15 feet to the west, in a more grassy area where children could be seen playing about 45 feet beyond their placement. Richard could see both officers through the light tree-lined path just to the left when he turned slightly.

"How long do you think before they call us back to the house?" He whispered to Janie.

"If we don't find the guy soon, probably another 4 hours or so. They have to prep the next shift." She stated thoughtfully, taking a moment to brush some sweat from her brow. She frowned. "It's hot out here."

"Hmm." Richard hummed in agreement. He could feel the dampness of his undershirt and thought back to the cool surface of the table that he had been sitting at 2 hours earlier. A smirk passed his lips for only a brief moment before he shrugged it away, trying not to think about how hot it was. "You think this is going to last the rest of the week, the heat I mean?

"I-" Janie started but was interrupted by a crashing sound through the bushes just ahead of them.

Richard looked left to where Helms and Christinson had been walking, and saw them with their guns drawn and raised.

"Drop your weapon and put your hands on your head." Christinson shouted from their position.

Richard reflexively reached his hand to his side arm and unclipped the holster.

It was clear from Richard's vantage point that whomever their Training Officers had on the other side of the brush was not aware that he and Janie were there. The positioning was such that as of now, the two pairs of officers created a triangular formation, advantageous if the guy didn't make a run for it, a risk if he did.

Richard drew his gun silently, and sending a brief glance to Janie, raised it in the direction of the rustling brush, placing himself in weaver stance.

Helms repeated the command that had been voiced moments earlier. "I said drop the knife and put your hands on your head."

This was their guy. Stiles was in there somewhere.

'Remember your training. Remember your training. Remember your training.' Richard repeated to himself.

"Your surrounded, Stiles." Christinson yelled.

From Richard's and Janie's vantage point, they could see now that their training officers were inching forward slowly. Helm's had his hand to his shoulder mic, clearly radioing for back up.

"Don't come any closer!" A voice shouted back, harsh but frantic. Richard could partially make out a green-clad arm peaking out from the brush that he had been hiding in. He was gesturing forward, pointing a knife.

Christinson, tried again, taking another step forward; now beginning to encroach on the 15 boundary that Stiles had started with between him and the officers.

This panicked Stiles and before Richard knew what was happening, the sound of branches breaking and brush was being violently pushed aside hit his sense. Just ahead Stiles burst out into the open, landing squarely in the path of Richard and Janie were, 15 feet ahead. He brandished the large knife in one hand.

All at once Richard heard shouting from the Helms and Christinson. Then gun fire.

Stiles pitched forward, attempting to run away; running toward Janie.

Richard squeeze the trigger of his firearm in an effort to stop Stiles from his attack, but nothing happened.

He had forgotten to flip the safety off.

'Fuck'

In the matter of a millisecond Richard moved on instinct, dropping from his weaver stance and rushing toward Janie, who was clearly frozen in place. Her hand glued against the gun in her holster.

Richard pushed her. Hard.

He felt the impact of the knife on his shoulder before force of Stiles body slamming into his registered against his chest. He then felt the air leave is body as his back hit the ground with a harsh thud.

His shoulder burned... So much hotter then the heat outside.

It felt like fire.

The last thing Richard saw before he blacked out was the clear blue sky filtering through the tree canopy above him.

The last thing he heard was the sound of a single gun shot piercing the air.

* * *

 **Thanks for Reading. Sorry to leave you with a bit of a cliff hanger. :)**

 **Hopefully I can add to this a few days into my travels. Much Love, Crackerjack**


	9. A Less than Ideal Meeting

**Authors Note: Hello. Wow. It has been a long while since I updated this story. Much longer than I thought it would be, in fact. To be quite honest... right after the traveling that I had to do, a combination of illness, work, more traveling, and more illness continued to hamper my ability to get further on an update before now. Not really a great set of excuses... but...Anyway, feeling better now. Almost 100%. #winning**

 **Regarding this update. I've worked and reworked this story a couple times and I feel like it is probably in the best place I can get it to at the moment. I have been running around likely meeting scenarios in my brain for these two and this one felt the most real** **to me** **.**

 **Please note that the story below was constructed for entertainment purposes. Cracker Jack makes no attempt to infringe on copyright or make a profit from the story.**

* * *

 **Wednesday, August 2nd, 2017, 4:01pm**

 **The Ramble, Lakeside**

The first thing that Richard felt when he woke up was pain.

A pulsing, red hot pain at the base of his skull.

His vision blurred as light penetrated the curtain of darkness that had overtaken him only moments ago. His eyelids fluttered, but the haze of his vision was not allowing for any recognition of shape or form. Just shadows shifting in between bands of light.

Richard felt like he was moving, but for the life of him he could not make heads or tails of what direction he was going. He was sure that he was not upright, but other then that, he felt rudderless; spinning.

His eyes fluttered closed again. Oh god, he felt like he was going to be sick. His stomach clinched, hard and fast.

Fuck.

A woman's voice; low and angry, perforated the white noise. "Get him on that Goddamn bus. NOW!" The sound was forceful; fearful.

He knew that voice; had heard that tone before. Somewhere, a long time ago... when he was a child, maybe.

Richard felt a violent jolt upward, and his senses, already flustered, became jarred once more.

His stomach clinched a second time.

He strained to hear more, to hear anything that would pull him into some semblance of understanding.

But it was too was too much. The pain, the nausea. The fear.

He felt a loss of energy, and though he tried to fight the pull of it, he was taken back fully into the darkness.

* * *

 **Richard and Jessica Stabler's House**

 **4:45pm**

"Hello."

"Hello, is this Jessica Stabler?" A gruff voice asked, his words coming out quickly on the other line.

Jess Stabler shifted her toddler son on her hip as she adjusted the receiver of her cell phone to hear the caller better. "Yes, this is Jessica. May I ask whose calling?" Her voice wavered as she weaved her head slightly, an attempt to dodge her son, whom was reaching for the small, illuminated device.

"Mrs. Stabler, this is Tom Helms. I'm Richard's Training Officer.-" The voice on the other line began.

"Oh! Yeah! Rich has been talking about you. Says you know where to find the best coffee in the city." Jess started, excited at the prospect of hearing from her husbands coworker. Both she and Rich had been quite busy the last few weeks, but she was eager to learn more about the people that her husband worked with. Richard had been especially complimentary of his training officer, Tom.

"Mrs. Stabler, I'm sorry to interrupt but I'm calling because there was an incident on patrol today, and your husband was injured." He explained.

"Oh my god!" Jess breathed. All at once a sense of fear and embarrassment washed over her. Of course that is why he was calling. Why would he be calling for any other reason at this point in her husbands new found career... he was a cop, after all. How could she not realize the reason this man would reach out to her. At least at this hour, when Rich would usually be making his way home from shift.

Benny, whom was still perched in her arms, shifted at her change in tone, nestling his forehead in the crook of her neck.

"Wha - What happened! Is Richard okay?" Her tone picked up a bit, more frantic now as the full weight and implications of what could be happening began to sink in. Was Richard hurt badly? Would this morning be the last time she saw her husband?

"Jessica, please try to remain calm. At present Richard is okay, but he is in the hospital. He was stabbed in the shoulder and lost consciousness when he was charged by the assailant. He's been transported to Mount Sinai Hospital-"

"Oh… Oh." Jess breathed in shock, hot tears starting to fall down her cheeks. "He was… he was attacked? What happened…"

Tom interrupted quickly, attempting to calm Jessica. "We can brief you on that when you arrive at the hospital, and connect you with medical staff whom can elaborate on the details related to his injuries."

She shook her head nonsensically as she tried to form her next thought. "I um... oh crap, I mean, how am I supposed to get there… our car is in the shop and, and… oh Jesus…" Jess began again. She knew that she needed to calm down, but god dammit if this was not the worse timing for something like this to happen.

Benny perked up at the rising commotion from his mother, his eyes watching her with a hint of trepidation. His firm grip on her t-shirt tightened in his small hands.

"Mrs Stabler, a cruiser is going to be sent to pick you up and transport you to the hospital. Are you at home?" Helms said with forced calm.

"Um. Yes." Jess breathed again; a ragged sigh sounding over the receiver.

"Okay. Our Captain thought as much and pre-empted me. The cruiser should be there in less than 10 minutes. You are noted as Richard's next of kin on his E-card, and you have been the first family member contacted. Is there anyone else that you would like me to call?" Tom asked.

A ragged breath sounded from the other end of the line.

"Ma'am?"

"Uh… Oh, no. I can take care of it." Jess said quickly. Now that she knew the cruiser was on its way, she needed to get herself together, if even only a little bit. "I can call. This should come from me. I'll call Rich's family once I get to the hospital and find out more."

"I understand." Tom responded. "If you change your mind please let me know. I am happy to help in any way that I can."

"Thanks, thank you… I um, …Rich is going to be okay, isn't he?" She asked; her tone was mirroring something along the lines of begging.

Tom cleared his throat on the other line. "He's banged up, and a little shaken up, but should be fine." He said softly, "The Doctor says Rich may be able to go home tonight. I'll let the hospital fill you in on the details."

"Okay. Thank you, again." Jess said gratefully before pulling the phone from her ear and setting it down on the changing table.

"Dammit, Rich" She said under her breath, as she reached down and set Benny on the carpet. The boy looked up at her for a beat, before directing his attention to a rogue shape on the shag surface, which he began tracing with the tip of his index finger.

Taking a moment Jessica drug a free hand across her eyes before firmly cupping her forehead. With a puff of air from her lungs she push the free hand and her bangs upward unceremoniously. She then padded over to the small chest of drawers and pulled a tiny pair of converse from the top drawer. Walking back to her son, she knelt down to start the task of placing the boys shoes on each foot.

"Out!" Benny chirped.

Recently, her son had begun to associate the need for shoes as meaning that he would be going outside.

The frantic look that had been creasing Jess's features since she got off the phone with Richard's training officer softened a bit. She tightened the velcro on his left shoe. "Yes, baby. Daddy got hurt, so we need to go make sure he is okay."

The boys brow lowered in confusion.

"Daddy has an ouch." Jess explained as she picked the boy back up and started making her way to the front of her house with the young child.

Completely familiar with the concept of 'ouch', Benny reached for his knee, an awkward proposition considering she was holding him, and repeated her phrase, as if to relay his understanding. "Ouch!" His lip pursed, reflecting his sincere, though childlike concern. "Ouch, da."

"Yes, baby." Jess said, using her free hand to once again brush her hair out of her face. As she did so she pushed her right eye with the heel of her hand and let out another shaky breath. "Le-… Let's get your diaper bag, okay. Our ride will be here any minute."

"… Out!"

* * *

 **Mount Sinai Hospital, 5:39pm**

Mike sat on the edge of the soft green leather seat. His knees bouncing around with nervous energy. He let his eyes roam the beige and light blue walls of the hospital waiting area. As he scanned the room his gaze stopped on the blue and magenta triangular logo just to the left of the elevator, which seemed out of place given the decor.

These places were always so drab looking, he thought. Then again most hospitals had a type of universal decor... the less than dynamic coloring, scuffed furniture and strangely patterned flooring... well, it always put Mikey in a state of unease whenever he visited a place like this.

"Relax kid, your friend, Richard is gonna be fine. Janie, too." said a soft voice.

Mike peered over his left shoulder toward Jackson, his TO.

"I know… I'm just, I don't know. I don't like hospitals." Mike said with a bit of petulance lacing his words. His back hunched further as if to punctuate his sentence.

"Most cops don't. Your in good company in that regard." Jackson added quietly with a single nod of her head out toward the room.

Mike turned, directing his gaze out into the expanse of the waiting room. A couple of uniforms where tucked in the few open seats, and then any nook that allowed held a handful of either uniformed or plain clothes officers. Most spoke to each other in quiet whispers.

Across from him and Jackson, two detectives sat next to each other quietly, a grim expression set on each of their faces... like they had done this before.

Jackson put her hand on Mike's shoulder, pulling his attention back to her. "Look Mike… It's okay to be a bit freaked out." She added softly.

"What, psshhh. I'm not freaked out." Mike responded immediately, doing his best to look her straight in the eyes. His effort to sound confident was all but ruined as his voice cracked on the word 'out'.

"I'm gonna give you some advice okay." Jackson began. "And, I'd like you to take it seriously. Okay?"

Mike didn't say anything, but continued to look at her.

"Your friends in there… They're going to be fine. Are they a little bruised? Yeah. Is Rich gonna be out of commission for a week or so? Yes."

"What's your point?" Mike interjected before he could stop himself. He recognized his error immediately as he watched a stern, and somewhat annoyed look pass across the woman's face, and her eyes darken slightly.

The feather light approach and motherly expression she had been offering to him on the matter only seconds earlier all but gone now.

"Don't interrupt." Jackson said with a more serious tone then he had seen her take since they started working with one another. "I don't know what happened with Janie and Richard, whether they were taken by surprise, froze, or both… but here's the thing, and I want you to pay attention to what I am about to say… this is going to happen again. You are going to be in the hospital again… for someone you work with… The quicker you make peace with that reality of this job, the better. Do you understand?"

Mike stayed quiet for a beat before responding, "I guess."

Jackson crossed her arms over her chest. "Count your blessings, Mike. Your friends were lucky today. It could have been so much worse." Jackson added before leaning back and directing her gaze out the window. "If you act like this every time something like this happens, you're gonna drive yourself nuts."

"Yeah." Mike said as he looked back out into the waiting room, hunching forward once again.

... "I still don't like hospitals."

* * *

 **Mount Sinai Hospital, 6:36pm**

Fin leaned against the wall just next to the nurses station.

Amanda and Carisi flanked him on either side, engaged in quiet conversation about the events of the last 5 hours. Olivia had briefed him on Richard and Janie's condition a few moments earlier, and based on the accounts of the assigned doctor, things looked like they were going to be okay, barring a few more tests for Richard, of course.

Fin took a deep breath, raising his hand to wipe the sweat from his brow.

After speaking with Olivia he had opted to take a quick breather; letting himself be amongst his team; his friends. He new he had to follow up with people regarding today's events, but he needed a second. Just a moment.

Today had been rough.

The asshole that they had been trying to catch was a straight up psycho. He had stabbed a young officer, and then been shot on site by one of the training officers.

Christ. 'Paperwork for days' Fin, thought.

For all the shit that he had been in and seen over the years, today's incident with Richard scared him. He had known the Stabler family for a while. Not well, but still. And seeing Richard lying in the gravel path, covered in blood and out cold... well, it had freaked him a bit.

He needed to call Elliot soon. He knew. He would just wait a couple more minutes to let himself relax a bit. He just needed a second.

It was ridiculous, but when he saw Richard get loaded into the bus, all he wanted to do was call his son, Ken.

"His wife looked kinda pissed when she got here. You think she is tearing him a new one." Carisi posed to Fin and Amanda, breaking Fin from his train of thought.

"Perhaps." Fin interjected ambivalently, picking up on the conversation between Amanda and the young detective. He adjusted his place against the wall, letting the concrete cool the spot between his shoulder blades. It was still hot as hell outside, even though it was now well past 6 o'clock in the evening. "Back when I was married, my wife flipped out the first time I was injured. Wanted me to quit. Said she would leave me if I didn't."

"You were married?" Amanda half-laughed, her eyebrows raising in curiosity.

"Yeah, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth." Fin quipped. "It's not like it was a secret or anything."

"Shit man, I didn't know that." Rollins huffed. "You're full of secrets."

"I'm a mystery wrapped in an enigma, Amanda." Fin deadpanned, before adding, "The sooner you get used to that, the better."

"So, what happened?" Carisi asked, sidling up closer to Fin. "What did you do, when your wife said that to you?"

Fin frowned a bit at the younger detective's invasiveness, but the answer to the question was pretty basic, so he let the man know. "Nothing. I stayed. After a couple years of undercover, a gunshot graze, and 7 more visits to the hospital, she left me."

Carisi stepped back out of Fin's space, embarrassed. "Oh. Sorry. That sucks, man."

"Worked out." Fin offered, to no one in particular, leaning his head back and staring up to the tiled ceiling.

Deciding to direct the conversation in a different direction, Carisi turned to Amanda,"Any word on Stiles?" Carisi asked.

Amanda smirked to herself. Sometimes her partner had the attention span of a squirrel. Probably a good thing in this case since Fin looked a little miffed after the most recent round of 'Carisi's 20 questions'. "He's in surgery. One of the bullets clipped his lung so it was touch and go for a while when we escorted him in the ambulance." Amanda said. "Honestly thought the guy might die there in the bus."

"Woulda been okay with me." Fin said under her breath, dropping his chin to his chest. "Not like the guy didn't have it coming.

"What about the Rookies?" Amanda asked Fin. "Any word on Stabler?"

"Richard's been awake since he got here. Woke up in the bus. According to Cap, Doctor says the wound was not deep, just long… so they're gonna stitch him up. Sounded like they were more concerned about the concussion. They're waiting to hear back on a couple tests, to see if he needs to stay the night or not. He hit the ground pretty hard, I guess." Fin explained.

"What about Ramirez?"

"Sprained wrist. Apparently Stabler pushed her pretty hard when he went all superhero." Fin added.

Amanda nodded at Fin's update, a thoughtful expression passing her face. "Liv seemed pretty riled up at the scene."

Carisi nodded in agreement. "I've never seen Cap like that before. She seemed almost, I don't know, angry or somethin'."

Amanda jumped in. "Well, her Officers were injured. If I was in command, that would wig me out a bit. Hell, I don't really even know those kids and I'm pretty wigged out."

Fin's mind flashed back to the scene at the park.

Olivia had been scared. He had detected it immediately, having worked with the woman for almost 20 years now.

She had attempted to cover her emotion with efficiency, directing officers and EMTs around with a vigor that was rare for her. But it was a veneer, and she had come off almost angry, panicked.

"I guess." Carisi added.

"Look, Sonny." Fin interjected, his tone a harsh whisper. He let his head fall away from the wall as he directed his gaze to the younger detective. He was getting tired of this conversation, too. "Olivia has known Richard for most his life; since he was 4 years old or something. When things where good between Olivia and her ex-partner, she was practically an installation at the Stabler household. His kids knew her, trusted her, confided in her… she was like, their unofficial godmother… So yeah, seeing Richard on the ground, with a stab wound to the shoulder probably freaked her a bit."

"Shit, Fin. I get it." Carisi started.

"Stop asking dumb questions, Sonny." Fin interrupted with a huff.

Carisi looked down for a bit, taking what was a not so subtle hint from his superior officer. After a beat he looked back over his shoulder, glancing back toward Helms and Christinson, whom where situated near the elevator. "You think IAB is gonna tie up Christinson on this? The shooting, I mean." He whispered the question, a sincere effort to redirect the conversation.

Fin shrugged. "Don't know." He glanced over toward the hallway, where Tucker and Olivia were talking quietly with one another just outside Stabler and Ramirez's room. "He's not stomping around here, so I think he is just here, per protocol. …But knowing Christinson, there was probably no other option. Dude likes to act tough… but he actually hates shooting his gun."

"It was a good thing, though. Probably saved Richard's life."

* * *

 **6:50pm**

"What do you mean, Richard is in the hospital?" Elliot roared over the phone, the sound almost inaudible as it came through the receiver. "Where is he? Which one?"

Kathy drew her cell phone away form hear ear, wincing. She put the phone on speaker but took care to turn the volume down a couple notches. "Elliot, calm down, please. Jess said he's at Mount Sinai. I'm heading there now. Kathleen is driving me." She looked to her daughter, whom was situated in the drivers seat of her minivan, maneuvering the steering wheel quietly. Kathleen was doing the best to ignore the conversation, though she could easily hear her father through the phone.

"I'm sorry." Elliot said, the volume had left his voice. His tone, though, still left something to he desired. "I just…. I thought I would've heard about this from someone at the precinct before now. Fin or something. He was supposed to keep an eye out for Richard."

Kathy sighed. "Yeah, well, I don't know. Jess said that he needed stitches and has a mild concussion, but that the Doctors said he is going to be fine."

"Stitches? For what? Why does he need stitches?" Elliot asked in quick succession.

Kathy hesitated, her voice wavering a bit as she spoke. "... He was stabbed, on patrol. They were canvasing the park-"

"Christ, I gotta get over there." Elliot huffed into the phone.

Kathy could hear the sounds of her ex-husband moving around what she presumed was his apartment; a rustling of keys, the pull of fabric.

"He's going to be fine, Elliot." Kathy reiterated, doing her best to convince herself as well. She was keeping visibly calm... years of working as a nurse had trained her to do as much. Even still, she felt the strain if fear push against her chest.

This time was different.

She had known this would happen. The evening that Richard had leaned against her kitchen counter and told her that he was going to be a cop, she had feared this very thing, seen it as not only a possibility but truly, an inevitability. She understood his reasoning... a means to provide for his family and pay for law school... but dammit... hadn't he seen his father in a sling, or bandages, or bruised enough times to know that there was risk involved.

Nope. She couldn't loose her shit right now. Not when she needed to stay calm for her family, especially Richard and his wife.

Besides, Elliot was flipping out enough for the both of them at the moment.

"He shouldn't have been out there. Who the hell put him in that situation?" Elliot said, the pitch of his voice lowering as his anger intensified, unprompted.

"Elliot, please relax." Kathy said quickly.

"I. am. relaxed."

Kathy rolled her eyes.

While Kathy knew Richard was going to be okay. She was still worried. And, Elliot… He was not doing anything to make her feel better. She needed to calm him down before he saw Richard. Her ex husband's bluster was not something that either she nor Richard needed at the moment. If he lost his shit at the hospital… well, that would just be the cherry on top of the shit-sundae that was this evening.

"No. Your not. ...I could tell when you were lying when we were married and I can tell now." She said sternly.

"Kathy-" Elliot started, a warning tone to his voice.

"I can't do this with you right now Elliot. I'll see you soon. You better adjust your attitude before you see our son. He can't stand when you yell and you know that."

And with that, she hung up.

"... So, Dad's taking this well." Kathleen mused from the driver's side of the van after a beat.

"Um... yeah. It would seem so." Kathy added, her tone tired.

* * *

 **Mount Sinai Hospital, 6:58pm**

 **Room 202**

"So… thanks for breaking my wrist. Jerk face." Janie said from the her hospital bed. Her legs swung slowly back and forth as she perched on the edge of the left side of the mattress. Her dress shirt was off, revealing her white tank top underneath. Several small scratches ran up the length of her left arm from where she had landed hard in the brush just next to the path at the park.

"I didn't break your wrist. It's sprained." Richard said from his bed, which was adjacent to Janie's. His free hand was clasped in Jess's open one, which was resting lightly on the edge of his bed.

Janie looked to the beige wrap around her wrist and frowned. "Why do they make these things look so light, like a white person. People of color hurt themselves, you know."

Jess, whom was sitting next to Richard with a tired Benny resting on her lap, barked once with laughter, before a contrite expression passed her face. "I'm sorry." She said quickly, "That's not funny."

"… it kinda is." Richard said, shooting a sly smirk at Jess before turning to Janie.

"Jerk. Face." Janie mouthed, before pointing her good hand toward Richard, and mouthing the word. "You."

"He is." Jess agreed out loud, nodding her head comically, a broad smile passing her lips as she joked with Richard's friend.

"Baby." Richard feigned hurt, bringing his good arm up and placing a hand over his chest. Turning back to his wife and jutting out his lower lip playfully. "You wound me."

"Stop, Rich." She laughed, her smile widening.

As he watch his wife, Richard's gaze softened. She was beautiful. She was also smiling genuinely for the first time since she arrived with their son in tow and hour and a half earlier.

"...So, are you still upset with me?"

Jess looked her husband over, her smile faltering. Both his uniform shirt and his white t-shirt were off, revealing a long stretch of bandages along his left shoulder where he had been stabbed. Her eyes wondered to his brow and temple, where small gashes sat with a greenish purple hue settling in around them. And, then of course, there was the bruises all along his back. She had been privy to those when his nurse had brought him back from having a CAT-scan.

As she finished with her assessment of him, her face contorted. "I just got scared. When Tom called, as soon as I put it together… I thought the worst." Jess explained, looking down, her mouth quickly setting in a frown. "The worst, Richard. And. I know you're okay. But… You could have been hurt so much worse." Jess removed her hand from his and swiped at her eyes.

"Hey." Richard said softly. "I got scared too… This is not exactly what I planned for today. I'm okay, though. I'm going to be fine, Jess."

She nodded, reaching up to draw her thumb and forefinger lightly across his temple, gently grazing the fresh bruises. "I know… but I just wish it hadn't happened. Rich… try not to be a hero all the time, okay?"

"…I appreciated it." Janie quipped from her bed, attempting to bring some levity to the conversation. She had been sitting awkwardly trying not to listen as the two conversed, but she could not take it any more. Watching her friend and his wife get all 'lifetime movie moment' on her was not something that she could handle right now.

Probably because of the pain pills. She was feeling punchy!

Richard turned his head to Janie, amused. "I thought I was a jerk face."

"You can be a hero and a jerk face." Janie responded, with a shrug of her shoulders. "The two are not mutually exclusive."

A light knock sounded from the entrance to the room pulling the three occupants attention to the door, which began to open slightly. Captain Benson poked her head in. "Hey there. May I come in?"

Janie was the first to respond, shooting a look to Richard before fidgeting slightly in her seat. "Sure, um, Yes… Captain"

Jess perked up in her seat as well, intrigued; the movement jostling Benny slightly.

Olivia stepped gracefully through the threshold of the door. Her formal attire from earlier in the day, during the Precinct meeting, was gone. Replaced with jeans and a light blouse. Her captain's badge sat at her hip rather then in the pocket of her blazer, where it usually lived. Her hair was down, rather than in the loose bun that Richard had become accustomed to seeing his new boss style since being 're-introduced' to her on his first day of work.

She looked more like the Olivia he had known when he was a kid. Somehow... for some reason or another, it was comforting.

Richard reflexively attempted to straighten up in bed, wincing slightly at the pull of movement on his stitches. Jess turned her attention to him as he let out a pained breath, her eyes widening in concern. "I'm fine" Richard mouthed to Jess, before directing his gaze to his Captain.

Olivia, never one to ignore people, immediately walked over to Jessica, and extended her hand. "Olivia Benson." She said kindly. "I'm sorry we had to meet under these circumstances."

"Jessica Stabler." The young woman offered. "While the circumstances are not ideal, it is very nice to meet you."

"Jess, Captain Benson runs my precinct, and she was also my dad's partner." Richard said, by way of further explanation.

Olivia noted with silent pleasure that Richard seemed more comfortable with her since their initial meeting a few weeks earlier. It could be that he was getting used to his role at the precinct and her presence as his boss… or that, at present, he likely had a high amount of pain meds in his system. Either way, she was pleased to see a burgeoning camaraderie between them, albeit a subdued one.

"Sure… Richard refers to you as 'dad's cool partner'." Jess said with a smile. "He's told me a couple stories about you and his father over the years."

Richard's ears turned bright red at his wife statement, and he tucked his chin down toward his chest.

"Cool, huh?" Olivia said, looking to Richard. "Not sure if that fits, but I'll take it… And, as for those stories… they were… entertaining, I'm sure." She said, offering a smile before turning her attention back to Jess and her son. "And who is this little guy." Olivia said knelling down to eye level with the toddler.

"This is Benny, my son." Richard offered, his chin still tucked to his chest, a small smile tugging at his lips.

"Hello Benny." Olivia said softly. The little boy turned to Olivia, eyes wide. After a moment his gaze narrowed pensively as he examined her, his large blue eyes assessing.

'Damn' Olivia thought, her own eyes widening as she watched him. He looked a hell of a lot like Elliot when he stared at her liked that.

After a beat… and what Olivia thought was likely the longest staring contest she had ever engaged in with a toddler, including her own son, Benny's assessment was complete... and, it must have been fruitful. Before she knew it the boy was giving her a toothy grin and clapping his little hands together.

"Looks like you passed his stare test." Jess said with a chuckle, offering a basic attempt at explaining her son's behavior. "He freaks out children at the playground when he does it…. I have no idea where he gets it."

Olivia's eyes shot up to Richard's, knowingly. "Oh, I have some idea." She quipped before standing fully. "Glad I passed your test, little guy." She said, reaching out and ruffling the boys hair. She looked to Jess then. "Do you mind if I have a quick conversation with your husband and his coworker?"

"Sure." Jess offered. "I called Kathy a little while ago. She will get here any minute. I should meet her when she arrives, anyway."

Richard turned to his wife, "You called my mom?"

"Richard, I told you earlier that I was calling her." Jess said as she stood from her chair.

"Shit."

"That's my cue to exit." Jess said with a laugh. She turned to Olivia, "It was nice to meet you."

"Likewise. Hopefully we can meet under better circumstances again soon." Olivia offered with a genuine smile.

* * *

 **Mount Sinai Hospital, 7:15pm**

 **Waiting Room**

Kathy stepped through the threshold of the elevator and out onto the 2nd floor. The Desk Nurse in Emergency had informed her that Richard had been moved to a shared room quite some time ago, after getting stitches in the emergency room.

Upon walking into the waiting room Kathy was hit with a sense of deja vu. She had been in this situation before. Only, it had been her husband that had been injured those times… not her son. Kathy looked around attempting to see if her son's wife was amongst the collection of uniformed officers sprinkled through out the space.

Jess had texted Kathy that she would meet her and Kathleen in the waiting room once they arrived, which had been perhaps 5 minutes earlier.

A child's laughter drew Kathy's attention toward the desk adjacent to the nurses station. She saw her daughter in law, her grandson in the young woman's arms, standing next to Fin, whom was clearly engaged in an attempt to make the boy laugh by making funny faces. She watched from afar as Fin stuck out his tongue at Benny, yielding yet another boisterous laugh from the child.

Kathy shuffled over quickly, Kathleen close behind, greeting the group with a slightly harried, "Jess!"

"Kathy!" Jess said, pulling the older woman in to a quick and comforting hug before releasing her and speaking quickly "You're here! I'm so glad. I just talked with Richard's doctor and they are saying that he should be fine, but that they would like to keep him over night since he lost consciousness twice. The concussion is very mild, but they don't want to take any chances since there was trauma from the stab wound. The cut to his shoulder was not deep! But he needed a lot of stitches. He won't need surgery though, which is great! Oh my god, I'm so glad you are here. Did you talk with Elliot?"

Fin's eyebrows rose to his hairline. "Shit." he said under he breath. "I forgot."

"What?" Jess and Kathy responded in unison, turning toward the Sergeant.

"I um. Never mind. It's not a big deal. I'll call him now." Fin said quickly, doing his best to pull his phone from his pocket in a relaxed manner.

Kathy looked perplexed. "Who? Elliot." She looked from Fin to Jessica. "I called him. I spoke to him, like 30 minutes ago. He should be here soon."

"Still..." Fin started, "I should probably follow up." He pressed the send button on his phone after queuing Elliot's number in his contacts. He listened as the phone rang, waiting for Elliot to pick up.

At the same time, a dinging noise in the distance affirmed the arrival of the elevator to the 2nd floor.

As the doors opened Fin could hear the chirping noise of iPhones standard marimba ring tone, and watched as Elliot rounded the entrance and looked into the waiting room. Elliot silenced his phone without even looking at the screen, directing his gaze directly at Fin as he did so.

And, he looked... pissed.

Fuck.

Fin pulled the phone from his ear.

Elliot, making a b-line toward Fin, was across the room in a matter of seconds, his long strides carrying him quickly.

"Elliot." Fin started, his tone laced with forced nonchalance. "I just called you."

"Fin, I swear to God-" The man said a quiet force, both hands at his sides, fist clenched.

"Elliot." Kathy cut in, seeing what was happening. This is what she had been afraid of when she had spoken on the phone with Elliot earlier.

Elliot continued to direct his gaze toward Fin. "You own me an explanation as to why I heard about my son's condition over 2 hours after he was attacked." Elliot seethed.

"That was my fault!" Jess said quickly, raising her hand to press Benny's head to her chest. Shielding him... "I told Richard's partner I would call you. I wanted to wait until I had more news for you, so I waited. Then, when I talked to Kathy, she said she would take care of it, and call you."

"Which I did." Kathy said quickly, with hands raised to emphasize her point. "I called you as soon as I knew!"

Elliot wasn't hearing it, at least not in a way that was calming him in the slightest.

"Fin, I asked you to look out for my son. You gave me your word that you would keep me in the loop!" Elliot started. "I should have heard from you." He pointed a finger in the mans chest.

Fin pushed off the wall so that he was standing at full height. "Look Elliot, I dropped the ball and I am sorry. But you gotta know that you were not going to be called first. Not when his wife is listed as his main contact on his E-card."

Elliot raised his proffered finger, pointing close to Fin's face now. "You and I both know that's a crap excuse." he added harshly.

"Elliot." Kathy admonished. "Can you please calm down. If not for yourself, at least for Jessica and Benny's sake."

Elliot looked to the right, at his ex-wife, daughter in law, and grandson. His brow creasing.

He dropped his hands back to his sides. "Which room?" Elliot said, with a forced calm. An attempt to redirect his energy.

"202" Jess interjected quickly. "But Richard's Captain is in there right now and - "

Hearing Jessica's words re-ignited Elliot's anger. This Captain should not have put his son on such a risky detail for his first canvas. "Oh, good. Because I have a few choice words for Richard's Captain." Someone was going to damn well pay for his son's injury.

Someone sent him out there, and goddamnit if he was not going to tell the sonofabitch what for.

Kathy and Fin both spoke at the same time. "I don't think that's a good idea." "Wait, Elliot, please."

Before anyone could stop him, Elliot had pushed past a few remaining officers between the waiting room and 202 and slammed his way into the room. A harsh yell preceding his entrance, "Who the hell do you think you are! Sending my boy… Olivia?"

* * *

The handful of officers and detectives whom had observed the exchange in the waiting room, looked with rapt attention to the door. What had started as brash and aggressive upon Elliot's entrance had become still and quiet. Eerily quiet.

"Wait." Kathy said to herself before turing to Fin. "Olivia is Richard's Captain? Olivia Benson."

"Yep." Fin quipped, eyes still on the door that Elliot had entered moments earlier.

"Nice." Kathleen said from behind Jess. "I bet Olivia is an awesome, Captain."

"She is..." Carisi cut in automatically, not taking his eyes off the hospital room door. "...What da hell is a happening right now?"

Amanda responded in kind… "I really have no idea." She turned to Fin. "That was Liv's partner before Amaro, right? Elliot Stabler?"

"Ah... Yep." Fin said again. Really, what else was there to say.

A low murmur began to sound from the room. Voices talking quickly but quietly enough to be indistinguishable.

"You think we should go in there?" Kathleen said, directing her question to both her mother and Jess, eyes wide and curious.

A louder voice sounded from the room now. Olivia's voice.

"Um, nope." Fin offered from behind the three Stabler women. He shifted his stance a bit, preparing to intervene if necessary.

"Are you fucking kidding me, Olivia?" Elliot's voice sounded loudly from the room.

"Dad. Calm down." Richard's voice followed, strained.

"I need to get in there and stop this." Kathy said, handing her purse to Kathleen.

Kathy had taken two steps toward 202 when suddenly Elliot stumbled, back first, through the door. Olivia followed quickly, walking forward toward him with a strong finger pointing hard into the man's chest.

"DO not speak to me that way again. Do you understand me, Elliot Stabler." It was a command, not a question.

As they both stood in the center of the waiting room, Olivia became acutely aware of where this conversation had moved to, and who was around her. Olivia's employees were watching her intently. Her ex-partner's ex-wife was here.

Oh...For the love of God...

She had to get away from this. From him, now, before she lost it in front of hear team and colleagues and god knows who else.

In a low, but professional tone she opted for another tact…"If you wish to question my leadership and the way in which I run my house, File a formal complaint with 1PP. Should they find any credence to your complaint they will remove me from my command. Now, if we are done here-"

Elliot's face contorted in annoyance. "No. You don't get to play that hand with me Olivia. We've known each other too long."

Olivia's attempt at maintaining a passive expression flattened, and she frowned deeply.

She shifted her gaze, taking a moment to look over Elliot's shoulder at his ex-wife. Kathy wore and expression that Olivia would describe as a combination of worry and embarrassment. If Olivia were being honest, she felt pretty similar at the moment.

"What. You aren't going to say anything?" Elliot prompted, an uncharacteristic scowl setting across his features. This coupled with his beard caused him to look haggard, something Olivia had not noticed until now… he looked tired. Worried.

And he would be, Olivia thought. This was his son. She understood. She was a mother.

She tried again. "Look. I'm sorry about what happened to Dickie, okay." Olivia said quickly, realizing the slip on Richard's childhood nickname when she saw Elliot's brow raise and his features soften, if ever so slightly. "You have to know that putting him in danger is the last thing that I would want to do. But I can't keep him from his job, Elliot."

Elliot's shoulders slumped and he took a breath. "I know." He looked passed Olivia through to the door that she had just...well, forced him through for lack of a better term. He looked to his son, whom was leaning forward, watching the exchange from his hospital bed.

"I'm still pissed at you." He said quietly.

"What else is new." Olivia huffed under her breath, her lips forming a tight line.

"He's my son."

"I get that." Olivia added empathetically. "I understand."

"No you don't." Elliot said quietly, without hesitation.

Olivia paused for a moment. Taken aback. A sad smile stretch across Olivia's face, then. She recognized this conversation. She had had it countless times with him when they had been partners. To Elliot, she had always had less authority in the matter of understanding the fears, wants, or provocations of a parent because when they were partners, she wasn't one.

And now, he had no idea that she had a son... because he had opted to step out of her life and not return.

Hell, the only reason that he was here now was because of a freak incident. Had Richard not been injured, had he not been in her employ, Elliot would not be standing in front of her now.

Looking down she shook her head, and placing a hand at the base of her neck, took a deep, calming, breath.

"I can't do this with you right now, Elliot. I have to go." She responded before looking back up.

"Wait, what." Elliot reacted.

She looked at him, staring straight into his cold blue eyes. "I have work to do, and you... are here to see your son. This is an unnecessary conversation for both you and I." She side stepped Elliot in one quick movement and made her way toward Kathy, Kathleen and Jessica.

Elliot turned, watching her with a confused expression, but remained silent.

As she reached her destination, Olivia reached out a hand to Elliot's ex-wife. "Its good to see you Kathy." She nodded as she offered a polite but genuine tone. A contrast to the conversation moments earlier. "I'm sorry it had to be under these circumstances…. and with what I would say is a rather awkward introduction after all these years."

Kathy smiled awkwardly, but accepted Olivia's open hand in her own. "It's nice to see you too, even if... Elliot was ... I'm sorry."

"No... I am." Olivia said, roughly. The emotion of the exchange with with Elliot, coupled with the days events starting to catch up with her. "Richard, would probably like to speak with both you and Elliot, so I'll let you get to that."

Releasing Kathy's hand, Olivia then turned to Kathleen.

"Good to see you, Olivia." Kathleen said immediately before reaching around and offering Olivia a light side hug which she returned.

"Likewise." Olivia said softly.

Olivia moved to stand next to Fin, letting the Stabler women pass. They each walked passed a stoic Elliot to get to Richard's room.

Elliot, unmoving continued to watch Olivia from his position in the middle of the waiting room.

She glanced at him quickly before, turning to Fin "I'm going to head back to the 1-6 and finish up some paperwork."

"Do you want me to call Lucy?" Fin asked, knowing that her son's babysitter would be wondering about the status of Olivia's arrival.

"Already took care of it." She said quickly, "I'll see you tomorrow. Fin. Carisi, Amanda... go get some rest. She turned then, and walked toward the elevator in silence, not attempting a look back as she did so.

Elliot continued to watch his ex-partner as she exited.

As Olivia stepped through the threshold of the elevator doors, her shoulders slumped, and her hand moved to cover her mouth. As the doors closed, the sound of a soft but audible sob emanated from the small space.

Elliot closed is eyes then. He was still angry. Of that he was sure. But very quickly, another emotion was taking hold of him.

Regret.

* * *

 **I hope that this super long chapter was worth the wait. (sorry for that) And, I hope that you enjoyed it. Feel free to let me know what you thought. Thanks for your patience.**


	10. Frayed and Bare

**Author's Note:**

 **So, we're gonna break it up a bit. Show what happened in and around the moments of the reunion between Stabler and Benson, and also, the aftermath. Hope you enjoy.**

Please note that the story below was constructed for entertainment purposes. Cracker Jack makes no attempt to infringe on the copyright or make a profit from this story.

* * *

 **Mount Sinai Hospital, 7:41pm**

To say things were awkward at the moment was an understatement. For one, Richard's mother was flitting around him; checking his sutures, touching his face where he had been bruised.

"Mom." Richard said lightly, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible as he attempted to weave his face away from her prodding hands. "I'm fine."

"I'm a nurse." Kathy responded, not even attempting to return eye contact as she continued with the inspection of her son. "You're not fine. You're alive. Not Fine. There's a difference."

Richard's mouth dropped open quickly to refute her statement, but he couldn't even get a word out before his mother interrupted once again.

"… just let me do this."

Richard opted not to respond then, but instead nodded once in affirmation and silent acceptance. It was fruitless. She was going to do what she wanted.

He cast a glance to Jay in the next bed over. She was watching him with a mix of humor and delight. She knew Richard well enough to know that he did not like to be fussed over... so, this whole scene was exceptionally entertaining for her to watch.

He shot his friend a crooked smile. 'Help me.' Richard mouthed silently.

Janie smirked, and with a look of pure wickedness she mouthed back the words 'No' and 'Jerkface' in quick succession.

Richard's eyebrows lifted in amusement.

Without warning, Kathy put her hand to Richard's left cheek, pulling him back to face forward; her piercing blue eyes meeting his. She brought her right index finger into his range of vision and offered a quick. "Follow my finger with your eyes. Don't move your head."

Complying, he followed along as she waved her hand in front of his face... for truly, much longer than he cared for.

"Good. You're tracking well, Rich."

"Mom." He puffed, more loudly then he intended.

"I've been a nurse for over 20 years. I know what I'm doing." She said firmly. Kathy dropped her hand then. "Your doctor is Dr. Nguyen, yeah? I'm gonna check with him about your tests." She began to shift and stand fully then.

"Just let him be." Elliot said from the foot of Richard's hospital bed. He had been watching the entire exchange for several minutes now.

As Kathy moved around the bed and toward the other side of the exam space to access the waiting room, she shot Elliot one quick, but severe look.

"I suggest you stop telling women who are not your wife what they should or should not do." And with that, she walked out the door; the heavy wood frame making a slight thud as the door closed with more force than necessary.

A sharp bark of a laugh sounded in the room at Kathy's exit.

Kathleen.

"... Sorry, dad." She said from the plastic seat next to Jess and Benny.

Richard looked to his sister and his wife. Kathleen, actually, did not look the least bit sorry. And well, his wife, she looked like she wanted to be anywhere but in this room with Rich's family right now.

He understood. Jess had come to know his family. But she had never gotten to see first hand her father in laws temper.

Richard cast a furtive glaze in his father's direction.

Elliot looked down to his chest, placing his large hands across the plastic foot guard at the end of Richard's bed. "No..." He shook his head. "I probably deserved that."

"Ya think." Sounded from the other side of the room.

Richard cast a glance over to Janie, whom had just spoken out of turn.

Wow. Janie and Kathleen were on a roll this evening.

Janie immediately realized her slip. A reaction of contrition followed, "Sorry Mr. Stabler...I'm... I mean... it's not my place." She extended both arms out, palms up in capitulation, despite the sprain to one of her wrists.

The elder man looked at the young officer. As much as he wanted to refute what she had said for speaking to him in such a manner, he knew that he would just be making things worse.

Shit.

He had already done that, for the most part.

"It's fine." Elliot said gruffly. No big deal."

Without another word. Elliot moved to sit next to Kathleen in the modest chair selection next to Richard's bed.

Richard looked to his dad, whom had positioned himself in such a manner that it was clear he was not interested in talking or engaging anyone further. His arms crossed lightly over his chest; he stared at the far wall, away from everyone else.

... If circumstances were different, perhaps Rich would have moved to comfort his father. Said a few words to remove some of the blame that his father was receiving from his friend and his mother for the events of the last hour. But, having watched the exchange in the waiting room from his hospital bed, Richard was at a loss.

He did not feel like defending Elliot Stabler at the moment.

Richard didn't really have any expectations when it came to his family arriving to his hospital bedside...an incident... that he had never imagined becoming a reality in the first place. But... His father's reaction had not been what he expected... Richard didn't really know why his father had unloaded like that... was it because he was scared?

Was he really that pissed at Olivia?

Why?

How had Richard gone from talking to Olivia about the attack in the park, to watching his father and Captain engage in a shouting match in his hospital room.

* * *

 **Mount Sinai Hospital, 7:10pm (30min earlier)**

"Shit."

"That's my cue to exit." Jess said with a laugh. She turned to Olivia, "It was nice to meet you."

"Likewise. Hopefully we can meet under better circumstances again soon." Olivia offered with a genuine smile. Taking a moment, Olivia waived to the littlest Stabler in the room, Benny. "Bye, little guy."

"Bu bah." Benny said as he waived his hand to Olivia. A movement which elicited a smile from Jessica as she turned toward the door.

As Jessica Stabler made her way out of room 202, Richard and Janie returned their attention to their Commanding Officer.

"What' up, Captain?" Janie asked, shifting so that her wrapped wrist was resting lightly on her lap.

Olivia walked to the center of the room so that she could look at both of her officers.

"So, I spoke to your TOs; Helms and Christinson. They let me know what happened at the park, and what the official report will say about the patrol and subsequent attack that you two where involved in today."

Richard and Janie looked to one another, concern stretching across both their faces.

Olivia watched them with interest. One eyebrow raising as the quiet exchange took place between the two.

Janie turned back to face Olivia. Her countenance pinched, as if she was bracing for a verbal assault. "And what will it say." she asked, reservation clear in her tone.

Olivia's expression shifted, an uptick of her lips causing a small but evident smile. "According to your TOs, Officer Stabler attempted to fire his weapon, seeing that Stiles was wielding a knife. And, when Stiles moved to attack, Richard's gun jammed. As a result Officer Stabler pushed you, Ramirez, out of the way to shield you from a possible attack. Officer Stabler was injured by the perp as a result."

"That's what Helms and Christinson said happened?" Richard said, almost unbelieving.

"Yes." Olivia nodded once, crossing her arms over her chest in a casual manner.

"And... that is all that is going into the report... about what happened to us today at the park?" Janie asked slowly.

Olivia lips pursed slightly… "Unless, you have something to add." She looked from Richard to Janie then. Waiting for a response.

Richard shook his head. "My gun didn't jam. I uh… forgot to take the safety off." He looked down, ashamed.

…"I didn't even pull my gun." Janie added in a half-whisper, looking straight forward at the wall across from her bed, clearly embarrassed.

"Okay." Olivia stated evenly, arms still crossed over her chest.

"I'm sorry." Richard offered, still looking down.

He added quietly, "I panicked."

"I know." Olivia said easily. "I checked your fire arm."

Richard's head shot up then. "You were at the scene?"

"Within 1 minute of sighting Stiles, your TOs had called for back up. The entire cavalry was coming toward you when you were attacked." Olivia stated by way of explanation. She took a step forward, so that she was more evenly placed between the two Officers, and looked to Richard. ..."Here is the thing. You're not the first officers that this has happened to. And, you certainly won't be the last, either." She shifted her gaze to Janie then. "So… it's not going on the record. This time. You're getting a mulligan. One redo. If I reported it, this would be in the official paperwork and as a result you may have to do and inquiry with IAB. It would go into your files… I'm not gonna do that."

Both Richard and Janie were stunned.

"But…" Richard started, in shock about what Olivia was telling him.

Olivia interrupted quickly, bringing her hands to her pockets. "You both will draw train instead, on your own time, with your service weapons. You can use the precinct range on 17th. I've already arranged a special deal with the clerk there. He will keep a booth open for you every day after shift for one month. He will be tracking your attendance. Neither of you are allowed to miss one session, or you get a rip for insubordination... all of this of course, once you return to active duty."

"Wait. What?!" Richard said, confused.

"You don't think you are coming back tomorrow, do you? Both of you are on paid leave." Olivia added. She pointed to Richard. "You have 20 stitches. You are off for 2 weeks. 3 days for the concussion and a week and a half to get your shoulder healed up enough to walk a beat. You also have to do PT."

She then shifted her gaze to Janie, "And you, Ramirez, you are off for 5 days. I expect you to report next Wednesday." ..."No arguments about the time off duty." Olivia added sternly.

"I'm a… I don't know what to say." Janie said. "...Thank you."

"Think about it this way… you get saved from precinct-wide embarrassment ...And, you will get better at drawing your weapons…and what happened today won't happen again." Olivia offered.

"You'd do that for us… I mean. Why such an accommodation?" Richard followed, his brow lowered in confusion.

Olivia smiled wistfully then, meandering over to sit on the edge of Richard's hospital bed. "I'm affording you both the same option my first Captain offered me."

Janie and Richard remained quiet; waiting for her to continue.

Olivia's expression changed slightly, her cheeks tinging red for a moment.

"My second week in vice at the 2-9, I ran down a drug dealer that my partner and I caught selling weed to some kids. This was the mid-90s, okay. Weed was a much bigger deal back then, because of the post D.A.R.E campaign. Nancy Reagan, blah, blah , blah. Anyway, I was way ahead of my partner, real close to getting the guy, you know… he turned down this ally and jumped the fence. I followed... not realizing it was closed on the other side. I got caught in an ally with the dealer …Long story short, there was another guy in the ally... I got scared. The dealer's "boss" popped me once in the face and ran off. I never even drew my gun. Never even had a chance."

Olivia looked to Janie. "It's not so uncommon. Everyone freezes at some point, especially in the beginning. The key is to try and not let it happen again." Olivia reached up and touched the side of her neck unconsciously then. "Sometimes when you freeze, civilians get hurt... Or you can get killed."

After a moment she continued, using her left hand to brush her long brown bangs from her vision as she moved to finish her story. "My Captain at the time, Jenkins, told me to learn from my mistake, and he gave me a pass on the professional embarrassment. Guess he thought the black eye and the hurt pride were enough. ...Anyway, for the next few months I ran the academy course with my side arm holstered, and trained pulling it after jumps. ... I also never ran ahead of my partner's site line again. Ever."

Olivia let her words sink in for a bit. She watched the young officer's grasp what she was sharing with them fully, before adding a final, "Does that sound doable for you both? Do you agree to my terms?"

"I'll do whatever it takes, Captain." Richard said immediately, a open expression passing his face as he nodded once.

"Yeah, absolutely." Janie added, moving to stand. She took three quick steps to meet Olivia at Richard's bedside, extending her good arm to shake.

Olivia reciprocated, grasping the young woman's hand firmly. "Good- " Olivia started, before a somewhat loud voice sounded from the waiting room.

"What was that?" Janie asked, turning from her position, and looking to the door.

"Not sure." Olivia said, her brown eyes widening in concern.

As the voice got louder Olivia heard a muffled but somewhat audible, "I have a few choice words for Richard's Captain." emanate from just beyond the door.

...That voice sounded familiar.

Olivia, moving to the side of Officer Ramirez, took a step towards the door.

Almost immediately though, she took a step back, as the door swung open and a booming voice shouted, "Who the hell do you think you are? Sending my boy..."

Olivia Benson took in the man standing before her. He was a little older, with light wrinkles touching the corners of his eyes and the spread of his brow. He had a brownish-grey close-cut beard. She almost didn't recognize him.

Almost.

"Olivia?"

"... Elliot."

* * *

"I... what are you doing here?" Elliot puffed out harshly. His rage from moments earlier was subsiding, but only just a little. He took a single step forward, but then stopped, taking in his ex-partner for the first time in 6+ years.

Olivia shifted her position, raising her posture. "I was talking with Richard and Officer Ramirez, Elliot."

She was more beautiful then he remembered. Wow. She, of course looked a bit older then the last time he had seen her. Her hair was longer then he remember. She also had a pair of black-rimmed glasses sitting atop her head. When did she start wearing glasses? He looked her up and down quickly. Why was Olivia here... Hadn't Jessica said that Richard was speaking with his Captain?

Elliot's brow crinkled in confusion. "Why?"

Richard sat stone still in his hospital bed. Only taking a moment to hazard a quick glance at Janie... who was watching his Father and their Captain with rapt attention.

He was not sure what was going on... but the energy in the room had turned in an instant. What had been a moment of relief at hearing that his job was still in tact was now a defunct reunion between people that obviously had not seen each other in quite some time. Richard felt as though any movement, any sound, would shatter the very delicate exchange that was happening between his father and the man's ex-partner.

Olivia's eyes narrowed at Elliot's response. Elliot's son had been working for her for several weeks now... wouldn't Elliot know? "I'm... I work with them, Elliot. I was talking with my employees."

Elliot still looked confused.

"I'm the Captain of the 16th now... I'm their boss. I was talking with Richard and Janie about what happened today at the park."

"You." He pointed to her, taking a deep breath. "You're my son's Captain?"

"Uh... Yeah. Didn't you know." She glanced to Richard then. "You didn't tell your father that I'm your boss."

Richard's face shifted to an expression of surprise. "I've been so busy with Jess, Benny, and this job... I hadn't had a chance." He looked to both of them... "What does it matter? What's the big deal?"

Olivia looked from Richard back to Elliot, shrugging her shoulder. "It's not a big deal." She offered.

Elliot shifted on his feet again, as if needing to process something. "You are my son's Captain? You?" He said quickly, his countenance shifting from somewhat placid, back again to anger.

She was not interested in getting into an argument right now. Especially with Elliot. Perhaps now was a good time to leave. "Yes, Elliot. That is correct." Olivia moved forward to access the door. "With that in mind I really should get going. Lots of work to do."

"I don't think so." Elliot shot back, effectively stopping Olivia in her tracks.

"What?"

"I need to speak with you." Elliot said by way of explanation.

"I don't think so, Elliot. Not right now." Olivia said quickly. This was not working they way she wanted it to.

"But I need to say something to you." Elliot responded, gruffly.

Olivia shook her head in the negative. "Schedule a time to speak with me tomorrow. I don't have time for this right now. I'm leaving."

"Are you fucking kidding me, Olivia." Elliot's voice sounded, shattering the reasonable volume that the conversation had been within over the last few minutes.

"Dad. Calm down!" Richard's voice cracked, breaking the haze.

Olivia jerked her head to look at her employee. Her fists tightened at her sides, unconsciously. A very slight kick of adrenaline started to make it's way through her system.

Even with the stress and action of her years on the job, she still had PTSD from her encounters with Lewis years earlier. And, while she was able to control it most times, in this moment she could feel her fight or flight response starting to kick in. She was uncomfortable. Elliot was yelling. Dickie was yelling.

"No, Olivia is not leaving until we talk about what happened to you." Elliot commanded, breaking Olivia from her preoccupation with her own, increasing, stress level.

She took a calming breath.

Then she took another. "Not in front of them." She nodded her head at Richard and Janie before directing her gaze back toward Elliot.

"Bull. Shit. Olivia. You put my son at risk. We are gonna talk about this now." Elliot said harshly, taking one quick step toward her.

Before Olivia could stop herself, she put her hands up, and then pushed forward. Once, very hard.

Elliot, whom had not been expecting such a reaction pitched backwards and stumbled. Before he could right himself, it happened again. This time he went fully through the door and out into the waiting room.

As he caught his footing he saw Olivia walking toward him, fire in her eyes. And, something else... anxiety, or stress, or...

Within seconds he felt a pointed finger pressing hard against his chest.

"DO not speak to me that way again. Do you understand me, Elliot Stabler?" It was a command, not a question.

* * *

 **Wednesday, August 2nd, 2017**

 **16th Precinct, 8:32pm**

Olivia sat in her office chair; her head in her hands. She shifted, allowing her palms to push lightly against her eyes. The application of that pressure was enough to stave off what she felt were the beginnings of a world-class migraine.

She had arrived to her office a little over 45 minutes ago. Olivia had done so with the express goal of starting the obscene stack of paperwork that was now part of her workload given today's incident at the park, and her young officer's injuries.

Pulling her hands away from her face, she looked to the form at the top of her stack; an OI-R-28.

She had filled out plenty of Officer Injury Reports since becoming a Captain… Especially the R-28.

When she had first become Captain of the 1-6 a young officer named Batista had been pushed off a stoop while answering a domestic. He broke his arm. She remembered that one, because she insisted that Batista take a week off, but he had insisted that he only needed a day.

And then there was Sonny. Carisi had taken a hard hit to the face a little over two months back from a perp resisting arrest. …He sustained a hairline fracture in his right hand when he responded in kind.

Now she was completing one for Dickie… Richard.

Fuck. She had to stop doing that.

She had blocked out Richard's name on the Form… that was as far as she had gotten on his OI-R-28.

 _Richard Joseph Stabler._

Olivia had not been able to move herself to add another word.

Instead, she alternated between looking down at the form and then shifting her gaze to her closed blinds. Thank God for those, by the way.

Her office was always a sort of safe zone for her, at least it had become so over the years. And coming to this place after the exchange with Elliot at the hospital was the only thing that she could think to do. She needed a moment to herself. And, this room was the only place where she truly had that luxury.

... It was surprising… how quickly it had all come back.

The rage she felt at Elliot for being closed-minded and loosing his shit so easily.

The irrational fear she felt being yelled at by him. Those triggers that she tried to suppress over the course of the last 4 years, rising to the surface with little to no prompting.

The embarrassment Olivia felt for letting herself fall into an old argument with Elliot in front of people she respected and cared for.

This is what happened with them. When they were at their worst, his very presence in her life was enough to leave her feeling frayed and bare. It brought out old habits of mind that Olivia was more then interested in putting in the past. Like their reactive 'relationship' if you could call it that, and her PTSD.

And then there was something else... When she was around him, she felt selfish. Seeing him again, made her wish that he was sitting in a desk across from her.

What a fucking contradiction.

But he wasn't.

When she was around him, her filter, at least to her, felt as if it evaporated. Like she almost couldn't refrain from pushing him, or worse, revealing something about herself that she would rather be kept hidden.

She had no control around him.

She and Elliot had certainly had good times. Worked together as friends and colleagues in ways and with efficiency that most people dreamed of. At some points in their partnership, they had been so in sync, it was hard to distinguish where Elliot began and she ended.

And that, truly, had been the majority of their partnership.

But when their partnership had been bad… When he pulled away; or worse still, when he had charged at her with anger and blame in his eyes… she could be in the same room, less then 3 feet away from him, and feel as though they were a million miles apart.

It was during those times, that she had to leave, for her own piece of mind. Sometimes it worked… and sometimes it made it worse.

Seeing Elliot today… having him blame her for Richard's injury… Telling her even now, even after years apart, that she could not understand his motivations or feel his fear and pain…

It just felt bad. And it amplified something very clearly for Olivia.

She had caught on to it pretty quickly after the 6th-month mark of his retirement and radio silence.

She did not matter to him; not really.

Olivia shot up in her desk chair.

"Screw this." Olivia said under her breath as she pulled her phone from her pocket. Queuing her home screen she scrolled quickly through her contacts, choosing a familiar number as she brought the phone to her ear.

After a few rings the other line picked up. "Hello?"

"Hey Lucy. I know I said that I was going to stay and do some paperwork… but it can wait. I'll be heading over shortly. …How's my guy?"

* * *

 **Elliot Stabler's Apartment, 1:07 am**

Elliot Stabler sat on his couch, staring at the blur of the television in front of him. A beer in one hand, and the remote in the other.

If you asked him what was playing, he wouldn't be able to tell you. He had not been paying attention at all. Not in the slightest.

Elliot had arrived home about an hour ago. After having been at the hospital for the better part of the evening, he had been officially dismissed by the hospital staff. After leaving he had made his way around the area near the park for a while...just walking... not really sure of what to do with himself.

Eventually, he made his way home.

Even now, he could not shake the days events from his mind.

While at the hospital he had spent the remainder of his time sitting, quietly, in Richard's hospital room. He listened while Kathy relayed the Doctor's recommendations. Watched Jess and Richard speak in hushed tones to one another. Observed Kathleen play with Benny to distract the young child from the goings on.

Occasionally, he caught the glance of Richard's friend Janie.

During his random visual assessment of the young officer, he noted on more than once that her expression, when caught, seemed to be that of a disappointed child... and a woman trying hard to hide her disdain for someone or something.

Elliot assumed that was directed at him.

Eventually, Richard's friend, Mike Keating, another officer, had come in, offering Janie a ride home. She had readily accepted.

Elliot didn't know Janie Ramirez very well. Only what Richard had shared with him, really... but from what he knew, she was pretty smart, funny, and idealistic... qualities which, he imagined had been suppressed by the day's events. Hence... the hate stare.

Today had not been... well, good. At all.

Elliot's son had been injured by someone whom was essentially a mad man.

Elliot had let his temper get the best of him, repeatedly.

And, Olivia. He had hurt Olivia...

It wasn't just the yelling. He knew that... had known and worked with her long enough to know how anger or sadness reflected in her features. He knew the difference. Even after all these years of silence between them.

When he had questioned Olivia in front of her colleagues, it had clearly pissed her off, yes...

But the pushing, he had not expected.

... And, then her pained expression when he called her out on not understanding his fears as a parent.

Elliot supposed that it was an affront to her professionalism and qualifications for the leadership position she now found herself in.

... but he was not interested in that.

He had known Olivia for almost half their lives. He knew that she was good at her job.

What he had trouble with at the hospital, and still had trouble with, even now, was the risk.

His son had been placed in a dangerous situation.

She knew who Richard was. Knew the man was Elliot's son.

... Did she not think he would be angry if something like this happened?

... Hell, at one point during their partnership, they argued over the air conditioner in the surveillance sedan. Certainly he was gonna get pissed about something like this. He had a right to for God's sake. Richard was his child.

Even if he was a grown ass man... he was still Elliot's kid.

No.

That had been it. When he had commented that she would not understand. That is when Elliot had seen the sadness creep into Olivia's eyes.

It was a dig.

A low blow.

Elliot leaned forward on the couch and put his head in his hands.

God. He was an idiot.

He knew how much Olivia wanted a family.

It had always been an unspoken aspect of their friendship and partnership. Something that they both quietly acknowledged... Olivia was essentially alone in the world... and any time she went in search of her family, like in the case of Simon, he had backed her play.

... And then, at the hospital... he had exploited that knowledge. Just as he had when they were partners when he thought she was speaking out of turn.

She hated that. And he always hated himself for bringing it up afterwards...

"Fuck." Elliot grunted, as he scrubbed a hand over his face and roughly over his beard.

"I have to fix this."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading.**

 **I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to let me know what you think, if you feel inclined to do so.**


	11. Understandings, Apologies, Etc

Hello. It's me.

I have not updated this story in the last couple of weeks due to some ongoing health issues. Thanks for your understanding, and your patience. It is much appreciated.

Please note that the story below was constructed for entertainment purposes. Cracker jack makes no attempt to infringe on the shows copyright, or make a profit from this story. #dontsueme

* * *

 **Thursday, August 3rd, 2017**

 **16th Precinct, 7:35am**

Olivia reached over without diverting her eyes from her current task; grabbing for another set of forms. She had been working on the stack of reports and request forms that she had abandoned the previous evening for the better part of 30 minutes. She had made a decent bit of headway too.

Like, a killer amount of headway, actually.

Yet another reason that Olivia loved coming in to the office earlier in the morning. Not only did it allow her to duck out a bit early from time to time, it also allowed her to power through projects with as little interruption as was possible given the work that she did at the precinct. Mornings were pretty quiet. Yes, in perhaps an hour a body would drop, or a call would come in, but for now, most of the night shift was moving their collars into lock up, or finishing up processing.

SVU Day Shift would not be in the office for another 30 to 45 minutes or so. That, coupled with the fact that she had told Fin, Amanda, Sonny, and their new detective, Kearny, that they had a reprieve from coming in early since they had stayed late at the hospital the day before, meant she may get another hour or so to herself before having to initiate a phone conference with her Bureau Chief and the recently appointed Assistant Chief, William Dodds.

Given the rate she was working, she might even get to take lunch today. A treat that she had not been afforded the last two weeks, as pressure from the Stiles case had built up from the media and 1PP. Hell, she would probably even have time to call Lucy and have her bring Noah in to have lunch with her. Awesome!

Olivia took a moment, thinking back to the previous evening. After she had left the precinct she had headed home to see her son.

Seeing him had lifted so much weight from her shoulders.

Noah was her home-base. He was her north star. Whatever was happening in her life, he was the reality check that she needed. Something about his unfiltered view of the world, or perhaps his curiosity... Olivia couldn't pin point it... she only knew that when she was with her son, that nothing else mattered.

Just him.

His needs.

And that was perfect... it got Olivia out of her own head, and away from dwelling about her own insecurities.

Last night, after seeing Elliot for the first time in years; after dealing with his unexpected yet understandable wrath, seeing her son is what Olivia needed. She needed a reminder that Elliot was wrong.

She was a mother.

She understood everything that he was screaming about... even if she didn't agree with him spot on.

And sitting with Noah as he played on the floor, then reading to him and tucking him in to bed had been a crystalline reaffirmation of that fact.

With a quick flourish Olivia added her signature to the bottom of another form an placed it in her outbox. Taking the free moment she pulled her phone from her jean pocket an went to her recent call history, queuing Lucy's number.

"Hi Lucy. I can do lunch today. What time were you thinking of taking Noah to the park?"

* * *

 **16th Precinct, 10:27am**

A soft knock sounded on Olivia's office door. She looked up, still in the throws of her conference call with Dodds; the Bureau Chief having disconnected a few minutes earlier. Fin entered quietly, noting that her phone conference was now in what he would imagine was it's 45th minute, and sat down as quietly as possible in the chair opposite his Captain.

"Yes sir." Olivia said into the receiver before continuing. "Considering what happened, I think it all turned out as best as could be expected... Sure thing, sure. Uh huh. Certainly, sir... Yes. See you at ComStat next Monday... bye... Goodbye."

Olivia pressed the disconnect button on the phone before placing the receiver to her office line back into its cradle.

"Finally got tired of hearing the sound of his own voice?" Fin asked, looking to his nails and then back at Olivia nonchalantly.

A smirk passed over Olivia's lips. "Not possible."

"Olivia. I love the fact that you an I can hate that guy in the privacy of this office. Being the boss has some perks."

"I don't hate him." Olivia said matter of factly.

"Don't lie to me." Fin deadpanned.

Olivia arched one eyebrow. "I don't... I just find him... annoying. There's a difference."

"I guess I could see your point." Fin shrugged. "Speaking of Dodds, have you heard from Mike lately?" Fin asked.

Olivia beamed. "Yeah. He is doing well at his new placement in Queens. He's in command and I think that running an SVU of his own is a good fit. The Terrorism task force was a stepping stone for him to take his promotional exam. And, he's got his own way of doing things... I'm glad he is sticking with Special Victims. I wouldn't have pegged him for a lifer in the unit when he first started working for us, but perhaps he is.

"Good to hear. Mike's a nice guy... Way less annoying than his father." Fin responded.

"He and I were gonna catch up in September some time. Once we set a date and venue, you want in? I'm sure he would love to see you and the rest of the team."

Fin nodded. "Sure." Before his eyes narrowed slightly, as he opted to shift to another topic. "Hey, Capt. I wanted to ask if you were doing okay."

Olivia sat down the stack of files that she had just grabbed from the edge of her desk. "Yeah... why?" She asked.

Fin leaned forward a bit so that he could better catch her eye. "Well, yesterday was a bit crazy... personally, I kinda think that it was a little too much for me... and it was not even nearly close to what you had to deal with?"

"I'm not really sure what you are getting at." Olivia said calmly, feigning ignorance.

"Come on, Liv. You basically rolled up on a scene to see a kid you have known and cared for since he was a child, bleeding on the ground. You helped compressed his wound until the ambulance came..."

Olivia opened her mouth to interrupt.

Fin spoke again before she could interject, "By the way, you may want to apologize to Helms for making him move away from Richard when he was administering first aid."

Olivia face turned red then, embarrassed. "... I already did." She offered quietly.

Fin continued. "Then you wrapped the scene. By the way, I have never seen something like that happen so fast. You were on fire."

"We needed to process the scene quickly so as not to loose evidence. You know what a big deal an officer-involved shooting is." Olivia pushed back.

"Yeah. I know... but even still. That's a lot of stress. Managing all those people after rolling up on a recruit bleeding out."

"I don't know what to tell you, Fin."

"You can tell me why you gave those kids a pass..."

Olivia flinched at Fin's statement. Surprised that he knew what she had done.

"Come on Olivia, I'm not dumb. I know you. You are a hardass most of the time. Rules, order and all that... but you're also a big softy."

"Fin-"

"Come on, Liv. I've known you for almost 20 years. Don't deny it." Fin smirked.

"...Besides, your contact at the shooting range left a message for you." Fin added, leaning forward and placing a small piece of paper on the table. "Said he needs the badge numbers for Stabler and Ramirez to make sure the discount is applied for their month-long access."

"Fin!"

"Not done, Liv." Fin tsked, by way of interruption. "And then, just when you think that things have calmed down, you have it out with your ex-partner in front of half of SVU."

Fin paused before adding. "I saw you, Liv. You don't usually lay your hand on someone, let alone push them through a closed door."

Olivia stayed silent for a moment, allowing Fin's assessment to sink in. After a beat, she took a deep breath while shifting to look at her desk. Her left hand moved, lifting her glasses to the crown of her head, while she let her right hand pinch the bridge of her nose. "He was shouting at me."

"That's not something new between you and him, Liv. It's Elliot Stabler. Shouting used to be, like, a solid 15% to 20% of his interactions."

"... I don't know. I just got triggered or something."

"You get scared?" Fin stated, concern lacing his voice now.

"Not really. I mean, it's Elliot." Olivia offered a bit incredulously. "You know him, he would never hurt me... physically." Olivia looked up to look at her coworker and dear friend. "I wasn't scared... sometimes it just a happens. A word, or tone, or look; it sets me on edge. Elliot wouldn't have known that-"

"Don't make excuses for him, Olivia." Fin shot back. "He was an asshole yesterday."

"I'm not." She said half-heartedly.

Fin leveled a pointed look at Olivia, his face devoid of empathy for her ex-partner.

Olivia rose from her chair, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked through the window behind her desk for a beat before turning back to look at Fin. "All I'm saying is that, yes, he was being... aggressive... but it's been a while. How would he know that asshole-like behavior sets me off now... when we were partners... for the most part, I was the restrained one... most of the time."

Fin raised an eyebrow at Olivia's statement.

A small smile touched the edge of Olivia's lips "... Most of the time, Fin. I said most of the time."

"Yeah." Fin stood from his position. "You know I just want to make sure you are okay. Yesterday was a crazy day. Not just for SVU or the Recruits, but for you. Yesterday was a shit show for you, in particular."

"Well when you put it that way." Olivia deadpanned.

"All I'm saying is that yesterday would have been stressful for any Captain. Compound that with finding Elliot's kid injured on the ground while trying to do your job, including pulling some strings to ensure he does not loose said job before it really even starts... Plus, Elliot's weirdo yelling. Hell Liv, I would be in the fetal position on the floor of my apartment right now if I had a day like you did yesterday... that's all I'm saying."

"You wouldn't be on the floor..." Olivia said softly, before smirking at Fin. "You'd be quietly crying in the break room."

"Is that so."

"It would be, you know... manly crying. You're nothing if not masculine, Fin."

"Gee, thanks. That makes it better." Fin chuckled before letting the conversation go. "You want to come out into the bullpen and we can give you a briefing on the overnights in the unit?

"Sure." Olivia responded after a beat, rounding her desk.

As she moved to the door Fin took a moment to reach out and place a hand on her shoulder. "Anytime you need to talk... about the thing with Elliot yesterday, or the I don't know, getting triggered once in a while... you can always talk to me. You know that right?"

"Thanks, Fin."

* * *

 **Room 202, Mt Sinai Hospital**

"What are you doing here?" Richard said from his hospital bed.

"Can't I stop in and visit you." Elliot said from the threshold of his son's hospital room door.

"I'm getting discharged in like an hour." Richard said flatly as he squirmed in his hospital bed. "Seems like a waste of time and parking money if I am going to be home by noon."

Elliot stepped through the doorway fully, letting his son's tone and behavior fill the space for a bit. Elliot looked him over, assessing. "I wanted to see you."

Richard looked to his father, his visage a combination of defiance and interest.

Elliot took three long strides before reaching the seat on the right side of his son's bed. "I also wanted to apologize to you."

"For what?"

"For yesterday... I lost my temper. Caused a scene." Elliot paused for a beat before adding solemnly. "I reacted without thinking. It was wrong of me to loose my shit... I mean, I shouldn't have yelled at anyone... and I-"

"As much as I appreciate what you are trying to do, dad... I'm not really the one you should be apologizing too."

Elliot remained quiet after his son's interruption.

"Olivia. You should be apologizing to Olivia." Richard huffed, a bit disappointed.

"I will be." Elliot nodded after a moment.

"What?"

"The precinct is my next stop." Elliot explained. "I've made... I mean... I intend to go there around lunch time... you know, to try and catch Olivia at a free moment."

Richard thought about his father's statement, taking the opportunity to look the man up and down for the first time since he walked into the room. His father looked okay. Tired. Like he hadn't slept the previous evening. But, he had also trimmed his beard slightly, looking less disheveled then he had yesterday.

"The precinct." Richard began, letting his concern for his father begin to override his lingering agitation from the previous day's events. "You okay with that? I know it's been a while."

"Yeah." Elliot said, his voice hitching slightly. "I've not been there since the shooting."

Richard's brow lifted, eyebrows knitting together. "Do you want me to go with you?"

Elliot looked almost affronted at the suggestion. "No, you will have been out of the hospital less than an hour. Are you trying to over exert yourself?"

"It's not that bad. I'm not an invalid."

Elliot looked cooly at his son. "I've been stabbed twice, Richard. And I can tell you from experience... Once you start moving around you are going to get tired and you are going to hurt. Trust me when I tell you that going to the 16th is not a good idea today."

Richard didn't argue. Just nodded in deference to his father's experience.

'A first.', Elliot thought, as he noted his son's subdued reaction to his stern suggestion.

"Perhaps Olivia would meet you, you know, for like coffee or something." Richard offered after a moment of silence. "That way you wouldn't have to go into the precinct if you don't want to."

Elliot let the suggestion sink in. It would make things easier for him. Since about 3am he had been mulling over the concept that he was going to have to set foot into the place where he killed Jenna. ...But he needed to do this. Not only to mend fences with Olivia over what happened yesterday, but also for himself.

Elliot had been putting this off. The closure that he needed.

He had let his fear and shame fester to the point where the mere idea of seeing Olivia, and confronting her in the space of his greatest sin, felt like it would tear him apart. He couldn't explain it. Not to anyone. The fear. The guilt. The contempt he felt toward himself.

"No. I gotta do this." Elliot responded. Resigned.

Richard nodded once. "Okay." He understood. His father had made up his mind, and perhaps... this was going to aid in him in his recuperation.

Yeah, his father was not getting drunk or fighting with his mother anymore. And yes, his father for the most part, was a much more calm, resigned, and an understanding guy since he left the department. But, since Richard had started his new job at the 16th, his father had been on edge. Like something was taking him back to that place that he was in the months immediately after the shooting.

Quick to close up.

Quick to yell.

He had noticed it a the diner when he had told his father about his placement, and he had seen it yesterday as his father railed against Olivia for something that, in truth, she could not control.

Elliot stood then, deciding that it was perhaps his time to exit.

Richard lifted his good arm in a motion to stop, causing Elliot to pause.

"Hey, before you go. I should let you know something. Olivia... she did Jay and I a favor..."

* * *

 **16th Precinct, 12:20pm**

Olivia walked toward the elevator to venture back up to SVU. She had just finished an overnight briefing with the remaining department at the precinct. She usually always started with SVU, but then she would vary her visitation to the remaining departments under her command. It was nice, and broke up the morning.

If there was not anything pressing, it meant that they could concentrate on some investigation rather than straight up intervention at the detective levels, which always helped to improve their case closure rates.

She had also taken a moment to check in with Helm's. He had insisted on coming in to work today, even though she had insisted that he take some time given that he and his trainee were involved in the incident and shooting of Stiles at Central Park. He was doing well, overall. Now that he had had time to process, he was a bit shaken by the fact that his recruit, Richard, had been injured within less and 2 months of walking the beat under his watchful eye. But he was okay.

Olivia had also called Christinson to check in. As was common, he was on leave until the shooting was assessed by IAB. Per protocol, they would take his statement and release his gun in a few days. Typical, given the nature of what had occurred. It was a good shoot. Christinson would be back training Ramirez in less then a week. Of that Olivia was sure.

Upon entering the elevator Olivia pressed the button to access the 7th floor. She then looked at her watch. 12:21pm.

Great! Noah and Lucy would be here in less than 15 minutes. Awesome. She had just enough time to pass a few files off to Fin for review in prep for ComStat, and then she could take a leisurely lunch with her son.

Perfect.

As the elevator doors opened to the seventh floor Olivia stepped out and began a making b-line for her office.

As Olivia passed the selection of desks, Lisa Kearny turned and stood attempting to get her attention. "Captain Benson. You got a call from the front desk. Says someone wanted to come up and speak with you."

Olivia cocked her head to the side, intrigued. "Did the Desk Sergeant say who it was?"

Kearny's face took on an expression of embarrassment . "I'm sorry. I didn't think to ask, Captain. The Sergeant did infer that it was someone that you know. You want me to call back down and ask?"

Olivia smiled then. "Nah. It's probably my son and his Nanny. She brings him in once and a while so we can have lunch. Just tell the desk to send them up."

Kearny smiled then, nodding enthusiastically as she reached for her desk phone. "Sure thing, boss."

"Thanks Lisa." Olivia offered, before continuing to her office.

Olivia moved quickly around the space, looking for the files that she wanted to pass along to Fin. Ah hah! There they are. Olivia smirked to herself in the quiet of her office. Raising the small stack of case files in one arm she allowed herself a minor indulgence as she spoke quietly to herself. "Boss of the year."

She then turned and moved to step out of the office. In one quick fluid movement she pulled the door open and shifted to the area just near the SVU Sergeants desk. With a flourish she plopped the files down on Fin's desk, and leaning in said, "Review these before Friday afternoon. We'll brief then to make sure we are on the same page about the Devlemere case."

Fin didn't respond, but instead chose to look forward toward the main entrance to the bullpen.

Olivia followed his gaze then, and before she knew it, her eyes were taking in the tall and sturdy form of one Elliot Stabler.

Elliot stood hesitantly just in front of the suite of elevator doors, a modest arrangement of pink and yellow daisies wrapped lightly in newsprint, clutched in his right hand.

Olivia stood up straight then.

Taking a moment to gain her bearings, Olivia was about to speak, to ask Elliot why he was at the 16th, when Fin stood up from his desk chair as well. Perhaps more forcefully than was necessary considering the the chair pitch back harshly.

"Stabler. What are you doing here?"

Elliot looked a bit taken aback, like he had not expected for anyone to ask why he was in the precinct. He was currently looking around the room, taking everything in like he was seeing it for the first time.

Fin made a moved to stand in front of Elliot then, and in doing so caught Amanda's attention. Kearny, whom had been working on a phone trace also turned after seeing the senior officer move toward the squads most recent arrival.

"Stabler." Fin said again, a bit more sharply this time.

Elliot head snapped forward then. "I, um, wanted to speak with your Captain." He said, gesturing toward Olivia with the bouquet of flowers still desperately clutched in his weathered hands.

Fin didn't miss a beat. "I don't think that's a good idea, Elliot."

Elliot looked over to Olivia then, whom had remained quiet since seeing him enter the bullpen. She was staring at him, assessing him in a way that almost made him feel vulnerable.

After a moment Olivia bit her lip. "It's fine, Fin." She nodded. more to herself then anyone else.

Her Sergeant looked to her again; likely worried given their conversation earlier that morning. But Elliot didn't look like he was here to start a fight. In fact, he looked contrite, tired, and if Olivia were being honest, a bit like a scared little boy. "It's fine." She mouthed to Fin.

Olivia shrugged her shoulder in a gesture meant to direct Elliot. "Come on, Elliot. Let's step into my office."

Elliot adhered, taking a few quick steps to the other side of the bullpen. As he did so, it struck him that he had not been in this Office since it was occupied by Don Cragen.

Holy Hell.

Things had changed. A lot.

Elliot stepped past Olivia and entered the office. Olivia followed behind, but before shutting the door, turned to Amanda. "Noah and Lucy are going to be here in less than 10 minutes. Amanda, will you take Noah and sit with him in the Youth Mediation Room until I'm finished here."

"Sure thing, Liv." Amanda responded.

With that Olivia shut the door to her office and closed the blinds.

"That's gonna be fun." Fin puffed as he moved to sit back down at his desk.

"You think they're gonna get into it again." Amanda asked, curious given what she witnessed between the two the evening before.

"I hope not." Fin said with little emotion, though he kept his eyes on the door.

* * *

After the lock engaged on the door, Olivia moved to the other side of the room, rounding her desk, and without a word took a seat across from Elliot. She clasped her hands atop her desk and directed a firm gaze toward him; waiting expectantly.

Elliot followed suit, sitting across from his former partner quietly, flowers resting on his lap. He took a moment to look around the office. It was the same office Don had been in during the latter years of his leadership of the 16th, but the space certainly looked different.

When Don had occupied the office it had been full a papers and memos on any unoccupied wall space, like his office was one big handbook for operations. That coupled with the redvines he kept in his desk made for a strange juxtaposition of policy vs. play... Which matched the mans moods, really. Sometimes Don was all bluster, form, and function, and sometimes the man was a fount of gallows humor and sarcasm.

In contrast, under Olivia's care the space was orderly, warm, and full of picture frames and images. On the wall behind Olivia, stretched between the two back windows was a framed picture of her and Munch. The man was wearing a nicer suit then usual. Don had said the elder detective retired. Perhaps the image was at the man's retirement party. Set a few inches away was an image of Olivia and Don, and then another of Olivia with a younger man with olive skin and a swath of jet black hair atop his head. They where smiling broadly as they stood in the squad room. ... Perhaps a boyfriend.

Elliot shook his head at the thought before directing his gaze toward Olivia.

At least a minute of quiet staring ensued, each waiting for the other to speak. After they hit the 1 minute 30 second mark, Olivia broke the silence. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to speak with you." Elliot began, cautiously.

"I think that's obvious at this point."

"And..." He lifted the flowers and thrust them forward reaching halfway over the desk. "And, I wanted to apologize."

Olivia eyed the flowers suspiciously, like the act of accepting the flowers that Elliot was proffering may harm her.

Elliot kept his hand raised, waiting for her to accept the flowers, which where now shaking lightly from keeping his arm up. The pink and yellow petals trembled. "I'm serious. This is a peace offering... a gift."

Olivia's expression softened. "Okay." She reached a hesitant hand to take the bouquet, grasping the newsprint incased floral arrangement and pulling it toward her.

She allowed herself one quick inhalation of the bouquets aroma before resting the flowers gently on the side of her desk. "These are nice, Elliot."

"I wanted to tell you that I am sorry. For the way I acted yesterday evening at the hospital. I lost my temper, and I shouldn't have." Elliot scrubbed a hand across his scalp and looked away. "It was wrong of me to blame you for what happened to Rich."

Olivia pressed a cool hand to her cheek, taking in his words. She then shifted, pressing the tips of her fingers to her lips as if trying to decide how she wanted to respond.

She averted her eyes to the flowers and then back to Elliot. After another beat she moved to speak. "I accept your apology."

Elliot slumped in his chair slightly and sighed... not realizing that he had been holding is breath. "It's more then I deserve. I was rude and I lost my cool when I saw my son. But that is no excuse for how I treated you."

Olivia averted her gaze to the picture frame just to the right of her desk.

"I understand." Olivia said. Her voice clipped, holding just a hint of emotion.

"I should never have said the things I said. It was callous."

Olivia adjusted her position to look back at Elliot. "Like I said Elliot, I get it... And while what you said yesterday WAS out of bounds, and it WAS hurtful, like I said... I forgive you."

Elliot moved to interrupt, clearly not done with his self-flagellation. But Olivia intervened. "What I said yesterday, about putting Richard as risk; questioning your command... I had no reason to flip out like that... I didn't really know the details of the case, and what he had been asked to do..." Elliot's expression opened then, his eyes bright for the first time since she had seen him again. "I didn't know how you helped him."

"Your son told you about the deal we worked out, so he doesn't get written up." It wasn't a question but rather a confirmation of what she already suspected since he had arrived.

"You didn't have to do that, Liv." Elliot said softly. "You could have brought the hammer down on him and Janie... Why didn't you. I mean... he forgot to take his safety off."

Olivia stood, moving over to the blinds on the right side of her office that opened to one of the interrogation rooms. She pealed one of the blinds down and looked into the room. "Richard may be old enough to work here, have his own family... whatever... but he is still a kid, he's new to this world and this work. He and Janie both are... and as much error took place yesterday, it wasn't because of negligence... it was because they panicked... They deserved a pass."

Elliot stood also, walking the few steps over to stand next to her. "Thank you." He said quietly. Sincerely.

Olivia looked over awkwardly, noting his proximity. They hadn't really been this close to one another in over 6 years.

His aftershave smelled nice... familiar.

Olivia shook her head, before turning to face Elliot fully.

"Thanks for the flowers."

"I remembered you like daisy's." Elliot said quietly. "I was at the shop, trying to think of what flower say's 'Sorry, Imma asshole.' and then I saw those."

"You're not an asshole." Olivia said reflexively, though to be quite honest, even with the apology, she didn't really believe it at the moment. A selection of flowers and an apology was not going to erase the last 6 years of radio silence.

Elliot placed a large hand on the back of his neck, rubbing out the tension. "You and I both know that's not true."

Olivia's mouth quirked up slightly. "I wont fight you on that..." She said before turning her eyes back the the blinds, and looking through them again.

Elliot caught himself then. Realizing he was infringing on her likely busy schedule. Certainly she was busy. She was the Captain of this place now. "You have an interrogation? I should go."

Olivia looked over to him, confused, her brow pinching slightly. "No. Not right now... besides, I don't really sit in on those things anymore."

Elliot gestured to the blinds. "You just keep looking in there... I shouldn't take up anymore of your time, anyway. I'll get going."

Despite Olivia's better instincts she intervened. "Don't go yet." She said, reaching out a hand to halt Elliot, but stopping just short of actually touching him. "It's not work."

"What do you mean?" He asked, truly confused. They were in her office and she kept looking into one of the interrogation rooms. What else could it be?

"Do you remember when I told you that I understood why you were so freaked out about Dickie...I mean Richard... I do... I do understand, and it's not just because long ago and far away we were partners and... friends."

Elliot said nothing, waiting for her to continue.

"I get it, when your a parent, you will do anything to protect your child."

Elliot took Olivia in then. Her expression was open. Her tone sincere.

"I don't like how things went yesterday... at all. But I do understand." She moved to raise the blinds to the window leading into Interrogation 2, also known as the Youth Mediation Room.

Elliot averted his gaze to look into the room. Inside sat a young boy with the blond detective that Olivia had been speaking with earlier, before they went into her office. The little boy had a messy mop of brown hair, some of which feel over his brow. He was perhaps 4 years old. He was sporting a pair of chuck taylor shoes that lit up each time that he kicked his feet under the small table... which was constant at this point, causing a light show of blues, greens, and reds to reflect off of the road and town carpet below his chair.

The detective sat next to him, coloring what looked to be a simplistic landscape on a sheet of paper. The little boy, by contrast, was coloring large circular scribbles on his sheet of paper. On occasion he looked over to the blond woman, beaming. Clearly pleased with his artwork.

"I don't understand." Elliot said, not taking his eyes off the boy.

Olivia didn't say anything, but instead tapped the glass, knocking twice, gaining the attention of the female detective and the young boy, whom immediately shot up out of his seat. and moved towards the door that led to Olivia's office.

Olivia shifted slightly, moving to open the door. The child immediately emerged through the door and reached up, opening and closing his hands in a gestural request to be picked up. Olivia complied, noting quietly under her breath, "Your getting big buddy. Soon I wont be able to pick you up."

"Hi!" The cherubic boy exclaimed once he was in Olivia's arms.

"Hello, little one." Olivia cued in response. "You ready to get something to eat?"

"Yah! Hey! Hey Momma. Can we go get peetza?"

Elliot's eyes widened at the boys words. All at once Elliot felt almost flush with emotion. The implications of the boys words overt. His former partner. His one time best friend... was a mom.

"Sure, love." Olivia said easily, a broad smile gracing her face the likes of which Elliot had only seen maybe a few times during their partnership.

She glowed.

He had been wrong yesterday.

So wrong.

As he watch mother a son for a brief moment he thought back to every conversation they had ever had about her being a mother, about adoption, about Calvin. She had wanted this for so long.

Olivia turned to look at Elliot then. Only a moments hesitation before she offered a shy, "Elliot, this is my son. Noah."

* * *

Thanks for reading. Much appreciated. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter.


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